Favorite Inspirational Quotes

Being sure is not the same as being right.  Certainty without humility can lead to self-righteousness that distorts our view and understanding of the world and of people.

Humility doesn’t require us to be equivocal or doubtful about our deepest convictions.  What it asks is that we hold and advocate our beliefs without dismissing the possibility that others may be right instead.

Michael Josephson
charactercounts.org

So how do I apply this to myself?  I think it says I can be sure about what I believe as long as I am humble enough to realize I don’t know it all.  There is a possibility that what I believe is incorrect.  If I am adult enough and truthful with myself, I probably learn things every day which challenge my beliefs.

The most famous case of the opposite is when people believed the earth was flat.  Or another that the stars were merely lanterns hanging in a suspended ceiling.  Or even that the earth was the center of the Universe and the sun revolved around it.  People of the time just knew they were right.  It was apparent.  Ask Galileo just how sure they were.

How I apply this to myself is to realize things change and to be open to the possibility that I am wrong in my present belief.  As I learn more every day, I will learn things that challenge my beliefs.  Heck, the “facts” I grew up with are challenged every day as our knowledge and technology increases.  It behooves me then to strive to be as correct as I can with humility knowing things change.

I do, however, believe this does not affect the rightness of values and the role they have in my life.

Tags: change