Stephen Vincent Benet Quotes

I think I know it all, relatively speaking.

The worst thing you could ever get is people who think they know everything.

[Douglas] MacArthur is the type of man who thinks that when he gets to heaven, God will step down from the great white throne and bow him into His vacated seat.

It's hubris to think that the way we see things is everything there is.

Man, proud man, Drest in a little brief authority, Most ignorant of what he's most assured.

Arrogance rides triumphantly through the gates, barely glancing at the old woman about to cut the rope and spring shut the trap.

In the fallen there is danger of pride and vainglory, since they prefer their own judgment to the judgment of everyone else, usurping what is not their own by setting themselves up as judges in their own cause when the rightful judge is their superior.

It is extremely arrogant and very foolish to think that you can ever outwit your audience.

Vanity can easily overtake wisdom. It usually overtakes common sense.

In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes.

Be careful of success; it has a dark side.

They think they have God Almighty by the toe.

By my count, more business leaders have failed and derailed because of arrogance than any other character flaw.

I believe that people start to get into trouble when they start to believe their own hype.

Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak.

Bonfire of the Vanities: The lesson of that book is, never start believing your own press.

Lord Birkenhead is very clever but sometimes his brains go to his head.

Science is his forte, and omniscience his foible.

Arrogance on the part of the meritorious is even more offensive to us than the arrogance of those without merit: for merit itself is offensive.

Whenever I've had success, I never learn from it. Success usually breeds a degree of hubris. When you fail, that's when you learn.

Self-conceit may lead to self destruction.

Such is the nature of men, that howsoever they may acknowledge many others to be more witty, or more eloquent, or more learned; yet they will hardly believe there be many so wise as themselves.

We are shallow because we are 'mayabang,' ego driven, and do not have the humility to understand that we are only human, much too human to mistake knowledge for wisdom.

I was a modest, good-humoured boy. It is Oxford that has made me insufferable.

The fellow who thinks he knows it all is especially annoying to those of us who do.