--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Timidity makes a person modest. It makes…" description: "\"Timidity makes a person modest. It makes him or her say, 'I'm not worthy of being written up in the record of deeds in heaven or on earth.' Timidity ke..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/708/maya-angelou-104_compassion_timidity-makes-a-person-modest-it-makes_1662094.jpg" --- # Timidity makes a person modest. It makes him or her say… ![“Timidity makes a person modest. It makes him or her say, 'I'm not worthy of being written up in the record of deeds in heaven or on earth.' Timidity keeps people from their good. They are afraid to say, 'Yes, I deserve it.'” quote by Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/708/maya-angelou-104_compassion_timidity-makes-a-person-modest-it-makes_1662094.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/708/maya-angelou-104_compassion_timidity-makes-a-person-modest-it-makes_1662094.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/708/maya-angelou-104_compassion_timidity-makes-a-person-modest-it-makes_1662094.jpg) > “Timidity makes a person modest. It makes him or her say, 'I'm not worthy of being written up in the record of deeds in heaven or on earth.' Timidity keeps people from their good. They are afraid to say, 'Yes, I deserve it.'” [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Timidity hinders people from recognizing their worth and claiming achievements, urging confidence to claim deserved success. **In simple terms:** Timidity hides worth and blocks achievement. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and claim your deserved successes. Themes confidence self‑worth achievement modesty Mood thoughtful empowering Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - career advancement - public speaking - personal milestones Key Concepts psychology social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What achievements have you downplayed? - How can you assert worth without seeming boastful? A Different Perspective Overconfidence can lead to arrogance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion/) [Deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeds/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Humility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humility/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Timidity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/timidity/) ## Related quotes > [Timidity keeps me safe and sad in a narrow room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/timidity-keeps-me-safe-and-sad-in-a-narrow-room/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [A modest little person, with much to be modest about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-modest-little-person-with-much-to-be-modest-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am a birthday person. I am not modest about birthdays.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parineeti-chopra/i-am-a-birthday-person-i-am-not-modest-about-birthdays/) [Parineeti Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parineeti-chopra/) > [Just do right. Right may not be expedient, it may not be profitable, but it will satisfy your soul. It brings you the kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/just-do-right-right-may-not-be-expedient-it-may-not-be-profitable-but/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“I believe most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-believe-most-plain-girls-are-virtuous-because-of-the-scarcity-of/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [What is a fear of living? It's being preeminently afraid of dying. It is not doing what you came here to do, out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/what-is-a-fear-of-living-it-s-being-preeminently-afraid-of-dying-it/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Try to live your life in a way that you will not regret years of useless virtue and inertia and timidity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/try-to-live-your-life-in-a-way-that-you-will-not-regret-years-of/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [We, unaccustomed to courage exiles from delight live coiled in shells of loneliness until love leaves its high holy temple and comes into our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/we-unaccustomed-to-courage-exiles-from-delight-live-coiled-in-shells-2/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I know, that since life is our most precious gift, and as far as we can be absolutely certain, it's given to us to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-know-that-since-life-is-our-most-precious-gift-and-as-far-as-we-can/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [We have a wonderful history behind us. ... If you are unable to demonstrate to the world that you have this record, the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carter-g-woodson/we-have-a-wonderful-history-behind-us-if-you-are-unable-to/) [Carter G. Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carter-g-woodson/) > [What a good thing, for instance, it was that one princess should sleep for a hundred years! Was she not saved from all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/what-a-good-thing-for-instance-it-was-that-one-princess-should-sleep/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [a diplomat ... is not worthy of the name unless he can say 'no' and make the other person like it - or at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margery-wilson/a-diplomat-is-not-worthy-of-the-name-unless-he-can-say-no-and-make/) [Margery Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margery-wilson/) > [What we need most right now, at this moment, is a kind of patriotic grace - a grace that takes the long view, apprehends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-noonan/what-we-need-most-right-now-at-this-moment-is-a-kind-of-patriotic/) [Peggy Noonan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-noonan/) > [We are producing urban places which are disjointed and disconnected and not worthy of our civilisation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moshe-safdie/we-are-producing-urban-places-which-are-disjointed-and-disconnected/) [Moshe Safdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moshe-safdie/) > [Tobacco is the passion of honest men and he who lives without tobacco is not worthy of living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/tobacco-is-the-passion-of-honest-men-and-he-who-lives-without-tobacco/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) ## More by Maya Angelou > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/if-we-accept-being-talked-to-any-kind-of-a-way-then-we-are-telling/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“You are very kind and very intelligent and those elements are not always found together. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-are-very-kind-and-very-intelligent-and-those-elements-are-not/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I agreed a long time ago, I would not live at any cost. If I am moved or forced away from what I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-agreed-a-long-time-ago-i-would-not-live-at-any-cost-if-i-am-moved/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [You want me to do something... tell me I can't do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-want-me-to-do-something-tell-me-i-can-t-do-it/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Intelligence is a separate gift, for the benefit of students, so that they may think of themselves as intellectual and not very intelligent, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/intelligence-is-a-separate-gift-for-the-benefit-of-students-so-that/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Life is going to give you just what you put in it. Put your whole heart in everything you do, and pray, then you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/life-is-going-to-give-you-just-what-you-put-in-it-put-your-whole/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may tread me in the very dirt But still, like dust,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-may-write-me-down-in-history-with-your-bitter-twisted-lies-you/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [The more you know of your history, the more liberated you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/the-more-you-know-of-your-history-the-more-liberated-you-are/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Life offers us tickets to places which we have not knowingly asked for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/life-offers-us-tickets-to-places-which-we-have-not-knowingly-asked-for/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/every-person-needs-to-take-one-day-away-a-day-in-which-one/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm working at trying to be a Christian, and that's serious business. It's like trying to be a good Jew, a good Muslim, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-m-working-at-trying-to-be-a-christian-and-that-s-serious-business/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Nathaniel Hawthorne once said that easy reading is damn hard writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/nathaniel-hawthorne-once-said-that-easy-reading-is-damn-hard-writing/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Sunday, if I'm lucky, I'll go to church or listen to some good spiritual advice on the television or on the radio. I take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/sunday-if-i-m-lucky-i-ll-go-to-church-or-listen-to-some-good/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) [Explore all 1,313 Maya Angelou quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) ## More Compassion quotes > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [“I fight with love and kindness as my weapons and compassion as my defense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debasish-mridha/i-fight-with-love-and-kindness-as-my-weapons-and-compassion-as-my/) [Debasish Mridha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debasish-mridha/) > [I really enjoy making people laugh; I've discovered that's a great technique. That's as powerful as stirring their sorrow, stirring their compassion, because that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/i-really-enjoy-making-people-laugh-i-ve-discovered-that-s-a-great/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [“If you refuse to use physical force, then you will be at the mercy of your oppressor!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/segun-magbagbeola/if-you-refuse-to-use-physical-force-then-you-will-be-at-the-mercy-of/) Segun Magbagbeola > [For some reason, we are truly convinced that if we criticize ourselves, the criticism will lead to change. If we are harsh, we believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geneen-roth/for-some-reason-we-are-truly-convinced-that-if-we-criticize-ourselves/) [Geneen Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geneen-roth/) > [I could not have slept tonight if I had left that helpless little creature to perish on the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-could-not-have-slept-tonight-if-i-had-left-that-helpless-little/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [We are puzzled and bewildered whenever we see suffering in this world because we have become accustomed to the mercy and the long-suffering of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/we-are-puzzled-and-bewildered-whenever-we-see-suffering-in-this-world/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [“Helpers in every corner, helpers in every hood. That's how we'll make the move, to reform from rude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/helpers-in-every-corner-helpers-in-every-hood-that-s-how-we-ll-make/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [There are a number of qualities which are important for mental peace, but from the little experience I have, I believe that one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/there-are-a-number-of-qualities-which-are-important-for-mental-peace/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [May the gods have mercy on whoever pisses them off, because Zarek and Jericho will have none for them. (Madoc) You’d better be glad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/may-the-gods-have-mercy-on-whoever-pisses-them-off-because-zarek-and/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [When you need empathy, you cannot give empathy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-b-rosenberg/when-you-need-empathy-you-cannot-give-empathy/) [Marshall B. Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-b-rosenberg/) > [But victimhood was seductive, a release from responsibility and caring. Fear would be transmuted into weary resignation; failure would no longer generate guilt but,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/but-victimhood-was-seductive-a-release-from-responsibility-and-caring/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [“No one has any right to tell you that the way you perceive yourself is wrong. Because by doing so, they also discourage the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/no-one-has-any-right-to-tell-you-that-the-way-you-perceive-yourself/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [“la ilaha ilallah muhammadun rasulullah, alaihi salatullah wa alihi wal ahibba "shine your mercy like the sun, and be gracious as the earth let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-al-habib/la-ilaha-ilallah-muhammadun-rasulullah-alaihi-salatullah-wa-alihi-wal/) Talib al Habib > [The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-love-for-all-living-creatures-is-the-most-noble-attribute-of-man/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) [Browse all 9,892 Compassion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Timidity makes a person modest. It makes him or her say, 'I'm not worthy of being written up in the record of deeds in heaven or on earth.' Timidity keeps people from their good. They are afraid to say, 'Yes, I deserve it.'", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Maya Angelou" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/timidity-makes-a-person-modest-it-makes-him-or-her-say-i-m-not-worthy/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Compassion" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/timidity-makes-a-person-modest-it-makes-him-or-her-say-i-m-not-worthy/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/708/maya-angelou-104_compassion_timidity-makes-a-person-modest-it-makes_1662094.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/708/maya-angelou-104_compassion_timidity-makes-a-person-modest-it-makes_1662094.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/708/maya-angelou-104_compassion_timidity-makes-a-person-modest-it-makes_1662094.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Timidity makes a person modest. It makes him or her say, 'I'm not worthy of being written up in the record…” — Maya Angelou", "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": "Maya Angelou", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Timidity makes a person modest. It...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/timidity-makes-a-person-modest-it-makes-him-or-her-say-i-m-not-worthy/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/timidity-makes-a-person-modest-it-makes-him-or-her-say-i-m-not-worthy/#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 } } ] } ```