Humility Speech
The Humble Grass
Good morning teachers and friends,
My name is Linh Chi and I’m from Vietnam.
What is humility? Is it not to act arrogantly? Is it to except one’s lowly position? Or is it to act without self-respect?
Well, humility is not an astronaut saying, “Oh, I’ve just done some travelling.” I mean, he went to the moon. No, humility is not lowering oneself; humility is to make other people feel equal and understood without devaluating oneself. For example, how does a man 1.6 meter tall talk equally to a child? He has to kneel so that his face is at the same height as the child’s. This is called humility.
I would like to tell you how I learnt about humility from my parents. They are both white-collar workers and I know almost nothing about their academic backgrounds except for the silly mistakes they told me. Their mistakes, surprisingly, are very similar to mine and sometimes I wonder if the circle has repeated itself. They have never looked down on me and said, “Why can’t you be like me? I was the top student!”, like other Vietnamese parents. In fact, it is funny that most of my mother’s and father’s ex-classmates say that to their children. When their children, meaning my friends told me this, I thought: “How on earth was it possible to have 19 top students in a class of 24?” Eventually, I found out that both my parents were top students. But, they never used their success to pressurize me. Instead, they always smile and ask me to try my best whenever I talked about school. That, my friends, is how I was taught the lesson of humility, through my parents’ words and actions.
Speaking of lessons, I am reminded of the movie “Patch Adams”. The doctor, Patch Adams, gained a very high profession, yet he displayed a great deal of humility. Every patient regardless of age, race or illness was treated equally and respectfully. His humility and understanding brought joy to his patients and resulted in a free hospital that practiced these values.
Although my
Good morning teachers and friends,
My name is Linh Chi and I’m from Vietnam.
What is humility? Is it not to act arrogantly? Is it to except one’s lowly position? Or is it to act without self-respect?
Well, humility is not an astronaut saying, “Oh, I’ve just done some travelling.” I mean, he went to the moon. No, humility is not lowering oneself; humility is to make other people feel equal and understood without devaluating oneself. For example, how does a man 1.6 meter tall talk equally to a child? He has to kneel so that his face is at the same height as the child’s. This is called humility.
I would like to tell you how I learnt about humility from my parents. They are both white-collar workers and I know almost nothing about their academic backgrounds except for the silly mistakes they told me. Their mistakes, surprisingly, are very similar to mine and sometimes I wonder if the circle has repeated itself. They have never looked down on me and said, “Why can’t you be like me? I was the top student!”, like other Vietnamese parents. In fact, it is funny that most of my mother’s and father’s ex-classmates say that to their children. When their children, meaning my friends told me this, I thought: “How on earth was it possible to have 19 top students in a class of 24?” Eventually, I found out that both my parents were top students. But, they never used their success to pressurize me. Instead, they always smile and ask me to try my best whenever I talked about school. That, my friends, is how I was taught the lesson of humility, through my parents’ words and actions.
Speaking of lessons, I am reminded of the movie “Patch Adams”. The doctor, Patch Adams, gained a very high profession, yet he displayed a great deal of humility. Every patient regardless of age, race or illness was treated equally and respectfully. His humility and understanding brought joy to his patients and resulted in a free hospital that practiced these values.
Although my