A Sanskrit Subhashita to Highlight the Importance of Humility.

“Humility is the solid foundation of all virtues.” — Confucius

नमन्ति फलिनो वृक्षा नमन्ति गुणिनो जनाः ।
शुष्ककाष्ठ्ठश्च मूर्खश्च न नमन्ति कदाचन ॥

The branches of a tree laden with fruit bend downward just as the Virtuous persons bow down out of respect to others. But a dry wood never bends down. Neither does a fool who does not respect others.

In this world of Self-Promotion, being humble is often sought as weak. When i was ignorant, i thought that humble people are those shy and retiring guys that always accept the opinions of others over theirs. They are those guys with low self-esteem who can easily be intimated and are too weak to survive the game of this world.

But as I pondered through the biographies of many notable persnolaties, one thing that was mostly common in them was the virtue of being humble. They were humble but not in the sense of what i imagine.

They were capable yet they valued opinion of others.

They were powerful yet they respected others.

They were influential yet they listened to what others had to say.