--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Humility sets us free to do what is…" description: "\"Humility sets us free to do what is really good, by showing us our illusions and withdrawing our will from what was only an apparent good.\" — Thomas Me..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67d/thomas-merton-231_humility_humility-sets-us-free-to-do-what-is-real_384352.jpg" --- # Humility sets us free to do what is really good, by… ![“Humility sets us free to do what is really good, by showing us our illusions and withdrawing our will from what was only an apparent good.” quote by Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67d/thomas-merton-231_humility_humility-sets-us-free-to-do-what-is-real_384352.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67d/thomas-merton-231_humility_humility-sets-us-free-to-do-what-is-real_384352.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67d/thomas-merton-231_humility_humility-sets-us-free-to-do-what-is-real_384352.jpg) > “Humility sets us free to do what is really good, by showing us our illusions and withdrawing our will from what was only an apparent good.” [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humility reveals true good by dispelling illusion and freeing will from false desires. **In simple terms:** Humility uncovers truth and frees us. Key Takeaway Cultivate humility to see genuine good. Themes spirituality self‑knowledge freedom Mood contemplative inspirational Type philosophical advisory When to use this quote - personal meditation - ethical decision‑making - leadership - counseling Key Concepts Ego dissolution inner clarity Questions to Reflect On - How does humility change personal priorities? - What practices help develop true humility? A Different Perspective Humility can be mistaken for weakness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Humility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humility/) [Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion/) ## Related quotes > [It's been made apparent I have a good eye for style and fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aquaria/it-s-been-made-apparent-i-have-a-good-eye-for-style-and-fashion/) [Aquaria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aquaria/) > [The power of a man is his present means to obtain some future apparent good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/the-power-of-a-man-is-his-present-means-to-obtain-some-future/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [The only thing that the truth sets free...is your conscience and not your livelihood:..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/the-only-thing-that-the-truth-sets-free-is-your-conscience-and-not/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [“it is not just any truth that sets you free. It is God’s truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stormie-omartian/it-is-not-just-any-truth-that-sets-you-free-it-is-god-s-truth/) [Stormie Omartian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stormie-omartian/) > [Once you get that instinct for the fictiveness, the fictionality of fiction, it kind of sets you free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/once-you-get-that-instinct-for-the-fictiveness-the-fictionality-of/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Materialism sets us free from sin-by proving that there is no such thing as sin. There's just antisocial behavior, which we can control with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-e-johnson/materialism-sets-us-free-from-sin-by-proving-that-there-is-no-such/) [Phillip E. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-e-johnson/) > [Your first touch sets you free](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arsene-wenger/your-first-touch-sets-you-free/) [Arsene Wenger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arsene-wenger/) > [Christ sets us free by the power of His Spirit; then He maintains our freedom as we learn to live from day to day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/christ-sets-us-free-by-the-power-of-his-spirit-then-he-maintains-our/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [“Love sets you free the moment it arrests you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/love-sets-you-free-the-moment-it-arrests-you/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [“Solitude sets you free from the rat race of life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/solitude-sets-you-free-from-the-rat-race-of-life/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [We give up what we want to give up and keep what in some way we still want to keep. There are payoffs for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/we-give-up-what-we-want-to-give-up-and-keep-what-in-some-way-we-still/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [The hunger will give you everything and it will take from you, everything. It will cost you your life, and there isn't a damn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-hunger-will-give-you-everything-and-it-will-take-from-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-heald/if-the-son-sets-you-free-you-will-be-free-indeed-john-8-36/) [Cynthia Heald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-heald/) > [It is our mind, and that alone, that chains us or sets us free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dilgo-khyentse-rinpoche/it-is-our-mind-and-that-alone-that-chains-us-or-sets-us-free/) [Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dilgo-khyentse-rinpoche/) > [Yet it is only love which sets us free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/yet-it-is-only-love-which-sets-us-free/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) ## More by Thomas Merton > [“Let no one hope to find in contemplation an escape from conflict, from anguish or from doubt. On the contrary, the deep, inexpressible certitude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/let-no-one-hope-to-find-in-contemplation-an-escape-from-conflict-from/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [If nothing that can be seen can either be God or represent Him to us as He is, then to find God we must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/if-nothing-that-can-be-seen-can-either-be-god-or-represent-him-to-us/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [It is almost impossible to overestimate the value of true humility and its power in the spiritual life. For the beginning of humility is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/it-is-almost-impossible-to-overestimate-the-value-of-true-humility/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [We are not perfectly free until we live in pure hope. For when our hope is pure, it no longer trusts exclusively in human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/we-are-not-perfectly-free-until-we-live-in-pure-hope-for-when-our/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The desire to kill is like the desire to attack another with an ingot of red -hot iron: I have to pick up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-desire-to-kill-is-like-the-desire-to-attack-another-with-an-ingot/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [To enter into the realm of contemplation one must in a certain sense die: but this death is in fact the entrance to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/to-enter-into-the-realm-of-contemplation-one-must-in-a-certain-sense/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The mission of Christian humility in social life is not merely to edify, but to keep minds open to many alternatives. The rigidity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-mission-of-christian-humility-in-social-life-is-not-merely-to/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Peace cannot be built on exclusivism, absolutism, and intolerance. But neither can it be built on vague liberal slogans and pious programs gestated in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/peace-cannot-be-built-on-exclusivism-absolutism-and-intolerance-but/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Things that are good are good, and if one is responding to that goodness one is in contact with a truth from which one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/things-that-are-good-are-good-and-if-one-is-responding-to-that/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Love winter when the plant says nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/love-winter-when-the-plant-says-nothing/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-logic-of-worldly-success-rests-on-a-fallacy-the-strange-error/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [“The wisdom of the flesh is a judgement that the ordinary ends of our natural appetites are the goods to which the whole of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-wisdom-of-the-flesh-is-a-judgement-that-the-ordinary-ends-of-our/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [I will no longer wound myself with the thoughts and questions that have surrounded me like thorns: that is a penance You do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/i-will-no-longer-wound-myself-with-the-thoughts-and-questions-that/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [If you write for God you will reach many men and bring them joy. If you write for men--you may make some money and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/if-you-write-for-god-you-will-reach-many-men-and-bring-them-joy-if/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [“Contemplation means rest, suspension of activity, withdrawal into the mysterious interior solitude in which the soul is absorbed in the immense and fruitful silence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/contemplation-means-rest-suspension-of-activity-withdrawal-into-the/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Explore all 851 Thomas Merton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) ## More Humility quotes > [You just have to stay humble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lamar-jackson/you-just-have-to-stay-humble/) [Lamar Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lamar-jackson/) > [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [It's a great lesson in modesty that you realize you're illiterate in a field that you think you're an expert in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wim-wenders/it-s-a-great-lesson-in-modesty-that-you-realize-you-re-illiterate-in/) [Wim Wenders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wim-wenders/) > [The more holy, the more humble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/the-more-holy-the-more-humble/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [“Prayer of an Anonymous Abbess: Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old. Keep me from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prayer-of-an-anonymous-abbess-lord-thou-knowest-better-than-myself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“But, like all indulgences that are valued not just for their product but for their process, the sento will never entirely disappear. For in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-eisler/but-like-all-indulgences-that-are-valued-not-just-for-their-product/) [Barry Eisler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-eisler/) > [“Humility and Trustworthiness are not rooted only in Presentation, Voice modulation or Nice Jorgan but in Actions and Intentions that speak louder than you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/venkat-gandhi/humility-and-trustworthiness-are-not-rooted-only-in-presentation/) [Venkat Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/venkat-gandhi/) > [I think being vulnerable paves the way for humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-sadowski/i-think-being-vulnerable-paves-the-way-for-humility/) [Jonathan Sadowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-sadowski/) > [I need to look like an idiot at least twice a day to keep myself humble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-evanovich/i-need-to-look-like-an-idiot-at-least-twice-a-day-to-keep-myself/) [Janet Evanovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-evanovich/) > [“I am waiting for the meek to be blessed and inherit the earth... without taxes”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/i-am-waiting-for-the-meek-to-be-blessed-and-inherit-the-earth-without/) [Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/) > [Rukmini Devi was an icon for all the Bharat Natyam students at Kalakshetra. I grew up watching her at dance school and I associate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amala-akkineni/rukmini-devi-was-an-icon-for-all-the-bharat-natyam-students-at/) [Amala Akkineni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amala-akkineni/) > [“Oh where is the noble face of modesty, or the strength of virtue, now that blasphemy is in power and men have put justice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euripides/oh-where-is-the-noble-face-of-modesty-or-the-strength-of-virtue-now/) [Euripides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euripides/) > [Modesty is the gentle art of enhancing your charm by pretending not to be aware of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-herford/modesty-is-the-gentle-art-of-enhancing-your-charm-by-pretending-not/) [Oliver Herford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-herford/) > [How arrogant - how very far from humility - would be the self-satisfied, smug assurance that God, a tidy-up-after-us God will come and clean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/how-arrogant-how-very-far-from-humility-would-be-the-self-satisfied/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [To be part of the creation, I must act humbly. I'll take that over a goddess any day!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-o-hara/to-be-part-of-the-creation-i-must-act-humbly-i-ll-take-that-over-a/) [Maureen O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-o-hara/) [Browse all 4,759 Humility quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humility/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Humility sets us free to do what is really good, by showing us our illusions and withdrawing our will from what was only an apparent good.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Merton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/humility-sets-us-free-to-do-what-is-really-good-by-showing-us-our/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Humility" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/humility-sets-us-free-to-do-what-is-really-good-by-showing-us-our/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67d/thomas-merton-231_humility_humility-sets-us-free-to-do-what-is-real_384352.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67d/thomas-merton-231_humility_humility-sets-us-free-to-do-what-is-real_384352.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67d/thomas-merton-231_humility_humility-sets-us-free-to-do-what-is-real_384352.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Humility sets us free to do what is really good, by showing us our illusions and withdrawing our will from…” — Thomas Merton", "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": "Thomas Merton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Humility sets us free to do...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/humility-sets-us-free-to-do-what-is-really-good-by-showing-us-our/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/humility-sets-us-free-to-do-what-is-really-good-by-showing-us-our/#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 } } ] } ```