the.com/humbleness

Confidence that doesn't need witnesses to confirm it's real.

means The quality of having a modest, unassuming view of your own importance.

from Built from 'humble' plus the suffix '-ness.' Humble traces through Old French 'humble' back to Latin 'humilis,' meaning 'low' or 'lowly' — itself rooted in 'humus,' the Latin word for ground or earth. So to be humble is, etymologically, to stay close to the dirt rather than reaching above your station; the same root that gives us 'humiliate' gives us this gentler, chosen form of lowness.

not low self-esteem
low self-esteem is about you, humbleness isn't
etymology
from humus, literally close to the ground
paradox
announcing it instantly cancels it
rare trait
the smartest people often overestimate how much they have
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