Humility

Humility is claimed to be a moral virtue in certain ethical systems. Humility is the quality or condition of being meek and submissive. Since virtues are guides to actions, humility as a virtue asks that you act pathetic, lowly, and ignoble. True humility requires you to believe it.

Humility is the opposite of pride. As opposed to the crown of virtues, humility is the poison of virtues. Every act of virtue is cause for scorn, because you are attempting to be good. Instead of accepting yourself as a worm, you are trying to be human. This is a great sin in many ethical systems. If you are happy about who you are, you will want to live for yourself. This is clearly unacceptable in ethical systems, such as altruism, where you are to sacrifice yourself for others. Pride gets in the way of sacrifice. Only humility serves that end.

Humility is hatred of oneself. It is the ultimate self-sacrifice. It is the sacrifice of one's ego. Raising humility to the status of a virtue is the ultimate inversion of morality. It is twisting what should be one's guide to life into a force bent on destroying one's life. By claiming it a virtue, your integrity is turned against you, and your purpose and strength are used to destroy yourself.


Copyright © 2001 by Jeff Landauer and Joseph Rowlands