cried, "Stoop! stoop!" I did not know what he meant till I felt my head hit against the beam. He was a man that never failed to impart instruction, and on this occasion said, "You are young, and have to go through the world; stoop as you go through it, and you will miss many hard thumps." This advice, thus beat into my head, has been of singular service to me, and I have often thought of it when I have seen pride mortified and men brought low by carrying their heads too high. (Text.)
(1459)
True exaltation is always accompanied by corresponding humility. Truly great souls never rise in conscious self-aggrandizement. They sink in self-esteem and are bowed low under a sense of responsibility in proportion to the splendor of their achievements.
In the Alps the eagle soars up higher and
higher till its figure is a mere speck in the
zenith. Among the mountains is a lake in
whose bosom is a perfect reflection of the
dome of the heavens. The traveler in these
regions, standing by the lake, sees everything
above mirrored in the lake. The flight
of the eagle higher than the mountain-tops,
as reflected in the lake, seems to be a descent
lower and lower. The higher the
flight the deeper the bird seems to be diving
downward. (Text.)
(1460)
On the tomb of Copernicus is a figure of himself standing with folded hands before a crucifix. In the background are a globe and compass. Near the left arm is a skull, and under the right arm, written in Latin: "I crave not the grace which Paul received, nor the favor with which Thou didst indulge Peter; that alone which Thou bestowedst upon the thief on the cross—that alone do I entreat." (Text.)
(1461)
Emerson points out the necessity of humility to any wholly approvable character in the following story:
Among the nuns in a convent not far from
Rome, one had appeared who laid claim to
certain rare gifts of inspiration and prophecy,
and the abbess advised the holy father at
Rome of the wonderful powers shown by
her novice. The Pope did not well know
what to make of these new claims, and St.
Philip Neri, a wise devout man of the
Church, coming in from a journey one day,
he consulted him. Philip undertook to visit
the nun, and ascertain her character. He
threw himself on his mule, all travel-soiled
as he was, and hastened through the mud
and more to the distant convent. He told
the abbess the Pope's wishes and begged her
to summon the nun. The nun was sent for,
and, as soon as she came into the apartment,
Philip stretched out his leg, all bespattered
with mud, and desired her to draw off his
boots. The young nun, who had become the
object of much attention and respect, drew
back with anger, and refused the office.
Philip ran out-of-doors, mounted his mule,
and returned instantly to the Pope. "Give
yourself no uneasiness, Holy Father, any
longer; here is no miracle, for here is no
humility." (Text.)
(1462)
See Modesty.
HUMILITY OF A SCIENTIST
Ten years before his death, Agassiz, wishing
to illustrate the laborious and slow results
of scientific research, said: "I have
devoted my whole life to the study of nature,
and yet a single sentence may express all
that I have done. I have shown that there
is a correspondence between the succession
of fishes in geological times and the different
stages of their growth in the egg—that
is all." Here speaks the scientist, with that
humility which characterizes the true student
of nature. But let me follow with his
prouder outlook for such toil: "It is given
to no mortal man to predict what may be
the result of any discovery in the realm of
nature. When the electric current was discovered,
what was it? A curiosity. When
the first electric machine was invented, to
what use was it put? To make puppets
dance for the amusement of children; but
should our work have no other result than
this—to know that certain facts in nature
are thus and not otherwise, their causes were
such and no other—this result in itself is
good enough and great enough since the end
of his aim, his glory, is the knowledge of
the truth."—Julia S. Visher, The Christian Register.
(1463)
HUMOR
Humor dwells with sanity,
Truth, and common sense.
Humor is humanity,
Sympathy intense.
