Humility is throwing oneself away in complete concentration on something or someone else.
Interpretation
Humility involves selflessness and dedication to others or a cause.
In this quote, Madeleine L'Engle emphasizes that true humility is not about diminishing oneself but is rather the act of focusing entirely on the needs and importance of others. It suggests that by dedicating oneself fully to something or someone outside of oneself, one embodies a deep, profound sense of humility and purpose.
In practice
Using this quote during a leadership seminar to illustrate the essence of servant leadership.
Truth is what is true, and it's not necessarily factual. Truth and fact are not the same thing. Truth does not contradict or deny facts, but it goes through and beyond facts. This is something that it is very difficult for some people to understand. Truth can be dangerous.
George MacDonald gives me renewed strength during times of trouble--times when I have seen people tempted to deny God--when he says, "The Son of God suffered unto death, not that men might not suffer, but that their sufferings might be like his.
If you don't recount your family history, it will be lost. Honor your own stories and tell them too. The tales may not seem very important, but they are what binds families and makes each of us who we are.
I never want to lose the story-loving child within me, or the adolescent, or the young woman, or the middle-aged one, because all together they help me to be fully alive on this journey, and show me that I must be willing to go where it takes me, even through the valley of the shadow.
The minute we begin to think we have all the answers, we forget the questions.
When we believe in the impossible, it becomes possible, and we can do all kinds of extraordinary things.
Any titles, money, or privilege you inherit are actually hindrances. They delude you into believing you are owed respect.
All of us, whether or not we are warriors, have a cubic centimeter of chance that pops out in front of our eyes from time to time. The difference between an average man and a warrior is that the warrior is aware of this, and one of his tasks is to be alert, deliberately waiting, so that when his cubic centimeter pops out he has the necessary speed, the prowess, to pick it up.
Sleep conceals the creative act while the objective world reveals it. In sleep man impresses the subconscious with his conception of himself.
You used to be much more..."muchier." You've lost your muchness.
Whenever I was upset by something in the papers, [Jack] always told me to be more tolerant, like a horse flicking away flies in the summer.
Reading makes me feel I've accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. ... Reading is bliss.
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