--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is perhaps no truer sign that a man…" description: "\"There is perhaps no truer sign that a man is really advancing than that he is learning to forget himself, that he is losing the natural thoughts about ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/194/john-campbell-shairp-34694_advancing_there-is-perhaps-no-truer-sign-that-a-ma_1322924.jpg" --- # There is perhaps no truer sign that a man is really… ![“There is perhaps no truer sign that a man is really advancing than that he is learning to forget himself, that he is losing the natural thoughts about self in the thought of One higher than himself, to whose guidance he can commit himself and all men.” quote by John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/194/john-campbell-shairp-34694_advancing_there-is-perhaps-no-truer-sign-that-a-ma_1322924.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/194/john-campbell-shairp-34694_advancing_there-is-perhaps-no-truer-sign-that-a-ma_1322924.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/194/john-campbell-shairp-34694_advancing_there-is-perhaps-no-truer-sign-that-a-ma_1322924.jpg) > “There is perhaps no truer sign that a man is really advancing than that he is learning to forget himself, that he is losing the natural thoughts about self in the thought of One higher than himself, to whose guidance he can commit himself and all men.” [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Advancing means transcending self‑centered thoughts and aligning with a higher purpose guided by humility and service. **In simple terms:** Growth is letting go of ego to follow a higher calling. Key Takeaway Seek humility and higher purpose. Themes self‑transcendence humility purpose spiritual growth Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal development - leadership - spiritual practice - community service Key Concepts ego dissolution higher purpose service guidance Questions to Reflect On - How can you shift from self‑interest to serving a greater good? - What higher purpose guides your actions? A Different Perspective Self‑focus can hinder progress if not balanced with collective responsibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Advancing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advancing/) [Commit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commit/) [Commit Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commit-men-4414815/) [Forget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forget/) [Forget him](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forget-him/) [Guidance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guidance/) [Higher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/higher/) [Losing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/losing/) [Losing Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/losing-natural-4414814/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-thought-326893/) [Thoughts Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoughts-self-1383251/) ## Related quotes > [As far as this citizen is concerned, the decision to commit men and women, who are also sons and daughters, to combat is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-armitage/as-far-as-this-citizen-is-concerned-the-decision-to-commit-men-and/) [Richard Armitage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-armitage/) > [There is something therapeutic about doing for others that lifts a person out of the rut of self-thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-lahaye/there-is-something-therapeutic-about-doing-for-others-that-lifts-a/) [Tim LaHaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-lahaye/) > [Should thoughts of self-praise, of self-satisfaction, occur to you, say: 'I myself am nothing; all that is good in me is accomplished by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-kronstadt/should-thoughts-of-self-praise-of-self-satisfaction-occur-to-you-say/) [John of Kronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-kronstadt/) > [No matter what I write or speak about, it always has some connection to how our spiritual understanding impacts the world we live in.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/no-matter-what-i-write-or-speak-about-it-always-has-some-connection/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [“Thinking, he walked ever more slowly and asked himself, What is it now that you were hoping to learn from doctrines and teachers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/thinking-he-walked-ever-more-slowly-and-asked-himself-what-is-it-now/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Imagination builds the image of the self, and thought then functions within its shadows. 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I feel, therefore I am is a truth much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/i-think-therefore-i-am-is-the-statement-of-an-intellectual-who/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [I have a pathological fear of being on my own. When I'm with my own thoughts, I start to unravel myself, and I start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-walliams/i-have-a-pathological-fear-of-being-on-my-own-when-i-m-with-my-own/) [David Walliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walliams/) > [If you only share your best pictures, or your Facetuned self, the thought of people seeing you as you truly are can be scary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaia-gerber/if-you-only-share-your-best-pictures-or-your-facetuned-self-the/) [Kaia Gerber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaia-gerber/) > [Urges fight to see you but is the the a demon or an angel to let you're sins free to let you're thoughts out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-cantrell/urges-fight-to-see-you-but-is-the-the-a-demon-or-an-angel-to-let-you/) [Damien Cantrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-cantrell/) > [Our Aim Is God: “We must constantly remember our aim is God. And we must not be concerned with anything that makes us forget…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirpal-singh/our-aim-is-god-we-must-constantly-remember-our-aim-is-god-and-we-must/) [Kirpal Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirpal-singh/) > [He had lived and acted on the assumption that he was alone, and now he saw that he had not been. What he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/he-had-lived-and-acted-on-the-assumption-that-he-was-alone-and-now-he/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) ## More by John Campbell Shairp > [The ground of all religion, that which makes it possible, is the relation in which the human soul stands to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/the-ground-of-all-religion-that-which-makes-it-possible-is-the/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [They who seek religion for culture's sake are aesthetic, not religious, and will never gain that grace which religion adds to culture, because they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/they-who-seek-religion-for-culture-s-sake-are-aesthetic-not-religious/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [We are not called on to believe this or that doctrine which may be proposed to us till we can do so from honest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/we-are-not-called-on-to-believe-this-or-that-doctrine-which-may-be/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [That image or rather that Person, so human, yet so entirely Divine, has a power to fill the imagination, to arrest the affections, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/that-image-or-rather-that-person-so-human-yet-so-entirely-divine-has/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [The main condition is that the spiritual ear should be open to overhear and patiently take in, and the will ready to obey that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/the-main-condition-is-that-the-spiritual-ear-should-be-open-to/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [Criticism is not religion, and by no process can it be substituted for it. It is not the critic's eye, but the child's heart,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/criticism-is-not-religion-and-by-no-process-can-it-be-substituted-for/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [For with all our pretension to enlightenment, are we not now a talking, desultory, rather than a meditative generation?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/for-with-all-our-pretension-to-enlightenment-are-we-not-now-a-talking/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [The sense that a man is serving a Higher than himself, with a service which will become ever more and more perfect freedom, evokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/the-sense-that-a-man-is-serving-a-higher-than-himself-with-a-service/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [It is quite certain that, if from childhood men were to begin to follow the first intimations of conscience, honestly to obey them and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/it-is-quite-certain-that-if-from-childhood-men-were-to-begin-to/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [Great men, great events, great epochs, it has been said, grow as we recede from them; and the rate at which they grow in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/great-men-great-events-great-epochs-it-has-been-said-grow-as-we/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [The belief in a Divine education, open to each man and to all men, takes up into itself all that is true in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/the-belief-in-a-divine-education-open-to-each-man-and-to-all-men/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [Not as men of science , not as critics , not as philosophers , but as little children , shall we enter into the kingdom of heaven .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/not-as-men-of-science-not-as-critics-not-as-philosophers-but-as/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [Beauty comes, we scarce know how, as an emanation from sources deeper than itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/beauty-comes-we-scarce-know-how-as-an-emanation-from-sources-deeper/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) [Explore all 14 John Campbell Shairp quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) ## More Advancing quotes > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) > [The average condition of the people improving or deteriorating, depends upon whether population is advancing faster than improvement, or improvement than population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/the-average-condition-of-the-people-improving-or-deteriorating/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [The problem with merely writing so that you can be understood is that the wrong people, in advancing their agendas, are only too ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-a-dembski/the-problem-with-merely-writing-so-that-you-can-be-understood-is-that/) [William A. Dembski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-a-dembski/) > [I needed to save every penny…I needed to be strong, and needed to find some way to secure a future. That’s why I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-ka-shing/i-needed-to-save-every-penny-i-needed-to-be-strong-and-needed-to-find/) [Li Ka-shing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-ka-shing/) > [The corporation is not an independent "person" with its own rights, needs, and desires that regulators must respect. It is a state created tool…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-bakan/the-corporation-is-not-an-independent-person-with-its-own-rights/) [Joel Bakan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-bakan/) > [I believe that the manned space program can engage the public by advancing the space frontier. Every next mission takes you farther out in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-believe-that-the-manned-space-program-can-engage-the-public-by/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Five qualities there are wine's praise advancing; Strong, beautiful, fragrant, cool and dancing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-harington/five-qualities-there-are-wine-s-praise-advancing-strong-beautiful/) [John Harington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-harington/) > [Ladies: Anne Hathaway is a feminist and she has amazing teeth. Let's save our bad attitudes for the ones who aren't advancing the cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-hathaway/ladies-anne-hathaway-is-a-feminist-and-she-has-amazing-teeth-let-s/) [Anne Hathaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-hathaway/) > [Increasingly constructive doubt is the sign of advancing civilization. We must put question marks along many of our inherited legal dogmas, since they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-frank/increasingly-constructive-doubt-is-the-sign-of-advancing-civilization/) [Jerome Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-frank/) > [What's important is how we use our time on this earth, not how conspicuously we give our money away. What's important is the energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-pallotta/what-s-important-is-how-we-use-our-time-on-this-earth-not-how/) [Dan Pallotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-pallotta/) > [Advancing bourgeois society liquidates memory, time, recollection as irrational leftovers of the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodor-adorno/advancing-bourgeois-society-liquidates-memory-time-recollection-as/) [Theodor Adorno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodor-adorno/) > [The real debate is we've had an activist court, and the American people don't want an activist court. And the real fear from those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-coburn/the-real-debate-is-we-ve-had-an-activist-court-and-the-american/) [Tom Coburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-coburn/) > [When one has made a decision to kill a person, even if it will be very difficult to succeed by advancing straight ahead, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yamamoto-tsunetomo/when-one-has-made-a-decision-to-kill-a-person-even-if-it-will-be-very/) [Yamamoto Tsunetomo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yamamoto-tsunetomo/) > [The universe is deathless; Is deathless because, having no finite self, it stays infinite. A sound man by not advancing himself stays the further…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-universe-is-deathless-is-deathless-because-having-no-finite-self/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [I'm convinced after spending three weeks in China and Tibet, unless the United States gets its act together, our grandchildren will be living in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mort-kondracke/i-m-convinced-after-spending-three-weeks-in-china-and-tibet-unless/) [Mort Kondracke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mort-kondracke/) [Browse all 266 Advancing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advancing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is perhaps no truer sign that a man is really advancing than that he is learning to forget himself, that he is losing the natural thoughts about self in the thought of One higher than himself, to whose guidance he can commit himself and all men.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Campbell Shairp" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/there-is-perhaps-no-truer-sign-that-a-man-is-really-advancing-than/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Advancing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/there-is-perhaps-no-truer-sign-that-a-man-is-really-advancing-than/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/194/john-campbell-shairp-34694_advancing_there-is-perhaps-no-truer-sign-that-a-ma_1322924.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/194/john-campbell-shairp-34694_advancing_there-is-perhaps-no-truer-sign-that-a-ma_1322924.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/194/john-campbell-shairp-34694_advancing_there-is-perhaps-no-truer-sign-that-a-ma_1322924.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is perhaps no truer sign that a man is really advancing than that he is learning to forget himself…” — John Campbell Shairp", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Campbell Shairp", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is perhaps no truer sign...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/there-is-perhaps-no-truer-sign-that-a-man-is-really-advancing-than/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/there-is-perhaps-no-truer-sign-that-a-man-is-really-advancing-than/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```