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Modesty cannot properly be described as a virtue, for it is a feeling rather than a disposition—a kind of fear of disrepute.—ARISTOTLE, Nicomachean Ethics
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Modesty is the only sure bait when you angle for praise.—LORD CHESTERFIELD, Letters
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On their own merits modest men are dumb.—GEORGE COLMAN, Epilogue to the Heir at Law
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I have done one braver thing
Than all the Worthies did;
And yet a braver thence doth spring,
Which is, to keep that hid.—JOHN DONNE, The Undertaking
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Modesty becomes a young man.—PLAUTUS, Asinaria
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Modesty ruins all that bring it to court.—Proverb
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Modest dogs miss much meat.—Proverb
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As demure as an old whore at a christening.—Proverb
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When one remains modest, not after praise but after blame, then is he really so.—J. P. RICHTER, Hesperus
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Me of my lawful pleasure she restrain'd
And pray'd me oft forbearance; did it with
A pudency so rosy the sweet view on 't
Might well have warm'd old Saturn.—SHAKESPEARE, Cymbeline
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Modesty may more betray our sense
Than woman's lightness.—SHAKESPEARE, Measure for Measure
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Not stepping o'er the bounds of modesty.—SHAKESPEARE, Romeo and Juliet
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Since maids, in modesty say "No" to that
Which they would have the profferer construe, "Ay."—SHAKESPEARE, Two Gentlemen of Verona
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Oh, if people only would be modest enough to believe in themselves!—BERNARD SHAW, to Ellen Terry
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Modesty antedates clothes and will be resumed when clothes are no more. Modesty died when clothes were born. Modesty died when false modesty was born.—MARK TWAIN
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Modesty in a man is a crime. Don't be modest. It is a woman's virtue.—FREDERICK WARDE
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Naked in nothing should a woman be;
But veil her very wit with modesty:
Let man discover, let her not display,
But yield her charms of mind with sweet delay.—EDWARD YOUNG, Love of Fame
