The Fruits Of Humility
“It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.” (Epictetus)
Being humble and having an open mind are two of the most important characteristics and skills that one can develop as a human being. The two are basically coupled — without humility, you don’t have an open mind and without an open mind, you don’t have humility.
There’s an interesting paradox when it comes to developing the skill of humility:
The more humble you become, the more that you know. The more that you think you know it all and lack humility, the less that you know.
How could this be?
This occurs because as you become more humble and approach every situation and person with humility, you allow the environment and other people to open up to you and reveal key insights, pieces of wisdom and pieces of information that have the potential to transform your life.
To the degree that you lack humility, the environment and others around you will be closed off because you’re approaching every life situation with an attitude of knowing it all or intellectual arrogance. This will not only destroy your chances of getting what you want but it will also destroy your relationship with the environment and others around you.
