“Nothing is more deceitful than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast.” – Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Over 220 years ago, when Jane Austin wrote Pride and Prejudice, she was already warning us about the humblebrag.
In case you are unfamiliar with the term, a humblebrag is when you want to boast about something, but pretend to be modest about it. A humblebrag would be something like this: “Ugh! Even wearing no makeup and with my hair in a ponytail, guys just keep hitting on me. So annoying!” Or this: ” Why am I always given the most demanding, prestigious projects to work on?”
If bragging makes people dislike you, humblebragging makes them dislike you even more. We can spot false modesty a mile away.
True humility is vastly different from the fake kind. True humility reflects great self-confidence; false humility just the opposite. We humblebrag because we recognize the fact that no one likes a show-off, but we still feel the need to indulge in self-promotion.
When we humblebrag, we ostensibly confide in others about our weaknesses or problems. In reality, what we are doing is drawing attention to one of our positive attributes.
When we cultivate true humility, we appreciate our own value and the value of others. We honestly recognize our strengths and weaknesses and acknowledge our limitations. Humility forces us to admit that we are fallible human beings; it forces us to appreciate our true worth.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” Philippians 2:3
I am sorry to have to cut this post short. I am worn out from responding to the many comments I received on my last post.ย ๐
I am linking with Ceeโs FOTD Challenge, Welcome Heart for Letโs Have Coffee, Soaring with Him for Recharge Wednesday, Debbie at Dare 2 Hear, Crystal Storms for Heart Encouragement, Rachel Marie Lee, Amy at Live Life Well, Raisie Bay for Word of the Week, Susan B Mead for Dancing With Jesus, Embracing the Unexpected for Grace and Truth, Random-osity for Little Things Thursdays, Reflections From Me for A Blogging Good Time, Itโs a Small Town Life for Thankful Thursday, Knit by Godโs Hand for Thankful Thursdays, Morganโs Milieu for Post, Comment, Love, Counting My Blessings for Faith โn Friends, and Worth Beyond Rubies.
Please click on the following link to read more funny or inspirational one-liners. One-Liner Wednesday.
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Your last line is PRICELESS!
๐
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Thank you! I may have been guilty of a few humblebrags over the years! ๐
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I see what you did there! ๐ You are so right, humblebragging is terribly annoying. I much prefer someone who is confident enough to share their good news with others (just don’t go overboard on us mere mortals). Now, get back to replying to all those comments!
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Haha! Thank you! I have been guilty of a humblebrag or two!!!
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Funny you should mention your last post – and the number of comments because I actually have comment to chime in with (if it was the one about speech and words)
And here – you introduced a new word to me! And just this week I was at a blog where the blogger did this (said her photos were not so bad if she does say so herself) and it did not sit right – but the rest of the post was fine anyhow
I think many of people have to find that happy balance with confidence versus cockiness
–
Oh there is a fine line!
And we do not have to shrink with our gifts or be afraid to celebrate a strength
But the pride that leads to a humble brag is from character issues (in my opinion) and pride has a destructive side
– and my closing thought is that it is God who allows us to cultivate and develop humility and if not for the grace of God – oh my goodness how puffed up some of us could be….
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Yes, that balance is hard to find sometimes. We want to be self-confident, but not a braggart. Humility is something I strive for, but have not completely achieved. Yet.
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Thanks for the reply – and I just feel like it is a fruit of the spirit –
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LOL, Laurie ๐
Actually, I no longer know anybody (over the age of 14, anyway) who humblebrags โ not since I left L.A.
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Hmmm… they are pretty transparent, aren’t they?
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I got a smile reading this Laurie and that is a new term for me. P.S. – I liked your ending as well!
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Thank you, Linda. I have learned so much from your posts. I am glad I could teach you one new term! ๐
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Thanks for saying that Laurie. Yes I have never heard that term, but, have known people who have that trait. ๐
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I use to think women were worse at this than men but now I am not so sure. I think it is just done differently. Good post and great words to think on.
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Thank you. Anita. I agree – I hear more humblebrags from women. Men just ourtight brag! ๐
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Yep
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I find twitter can be quite full of humblebrags at times.
#abitofeverything
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Yes. I saw so many examples of humblebrags from Twitter when I was researching this article.
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I love the ending – perfect! I find myself surrounded by folks humblebragging about their car/house/kids – you’re right, it does make me like them even less.
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Thank you, Dan. I may have been guilty fo humblebragging. I definitely don’t like to hear it from others.
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Ha! I love your sense of humor. laurensparks.net
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Thank you, Lauren.
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I can’t say I’ve heard of the term humblebrag, but it certainly makes sense and I know I’ve seen it in action. x
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Yes, unfortunately, I have seen it in action too! ๐
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I catch myself in a humblebrag every once in a while. We are all works in progress.
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I catch myself too. We are indeed works in progress! ๐
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Great post and thanks for bringing a smile to my face at the very end – another great example of a humblebrag. Love your sense of humor!
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I may have been guilty of a humblebrag or two! ๐ Thank you, Debbie!
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That last line was awesome ๐
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Thank you!
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This was wonderful. I read your post after spending part of my morning bragging about my granddaughterโs soccer abilities to some park friends! I donโt think it was a humblebrag but youโve certainly given me some food for thought!
Now, getting that out of the way, may I bend your ear and tell you all about my 7 year old granddaughterโs incredible footwork skills that she learned from humble olโ me? ๐คฃ (Jk… she learned it from her Mom).
Great piece, Laurie!
Susan
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Thank you, Susan. I may have been guilty of a few humblebrags in my life! ๐
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There is a fine line at times between the two… ๐
Bless you,
Jennifer
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So true! Blessings to you, too.
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Ha! I think this term has made me very aware of the way I share “news” on social media, almost to the point of overthinking things. Ack! It’s such a burden to be so self aware. (Ha! Ha!)
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I had the same response when I first read this quote and it reminded me of the term. “Do I do that???” Actually, I think I may be guilty of humblebragging on occasion, but I am more (self) aware of it now.
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We live in such a comparison world anymore where sadly, I think people need to do that to feel their WORTH… unfortunate.
Thanks for this post.
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Yes. We want to brag, but we don’t want to come across as bragg-y, so we couch our boast in humblebrag terms. It just makes the brag even worse! ๐
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…there are more than enough dandelions to go around!
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I found this one a few months ago when I was still excited about dandelions! ๐
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I’m not familiar with the term, humblebrag, but I’ve met a few!
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Me too. Unfortunately! ๐
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You humblebragger, you!!! I’ve never heard that term until right now!
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Haha! My daughter-in-law introduced me to the term! ๐
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I think it is good to celebrate your achievements but not go overboard and do it in a braggy way as that is so off putting X #abitofeverything
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There is a fine line between sharing and boasting. Humblebragging is in a category all its own! ๐
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Some great thoughts, thanks for sharing!
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Thank you!
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I enjoyed reading this. Does humblebragging take practice or come naturally ๐ ? #alittlebitofeverything
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It depends on the person! ๐
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I’m slow…I didn’t get the last line as a humblebrag until I saw someone else’s comment. ๐ Clever! ha. Great post, Laurie.
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Thank you, Lisa! I’m glad you figured out that I wasn’t really bragging! ๐
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I’ve heard the word humblebrag before but wasn’t exactly sure what it meant so thanks for enlightening me.
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Glad I could share with you!
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That last line made me chuckle. I am sure most of us have been guilty of a humblebrag at one time or another! Itโs interesting to reflect on the difference between true humility and false humility. I never thought of true humility as reflecting great self-confidence before but I can see how that would be the case. Food for thought. #WotW
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Glad you enjoyed it, Louise. I may have been guilty of a humblebrag or two! ๐
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I have definitely humblebragged on occasion! Fun read and food for thought, as always ๐
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I am guilty too! Thank you!
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Ha! You totally got me on the last line! It’s all about our motives, right?
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Right, Liz! Motives count.
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Almost went off to read your last post, out of curiosity. Not heard the expression before. More than likely guilty of it. Darn. It’s going to take twice as long to write a post now. I’ll be double checking. #wotw
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I think I have been guilty of a humblebrag or two. I am more aware of it now and will avoid it!
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I think we can all be our own worst critic. Sometimes it is nice to push your own limitations.
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So true!
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sometimes a lot of people just don’t want to hear you talking about your life and accuse you of showing off or bragging, so by playing it down a little, it can make it easier. however what I’ve noticed the most is people just want you to be honest about your life, until you share the good stuff then you’re just bragging. can’t please all the people, all the time #pocolo
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Haha! So true! You can’t win sometimes. I follow a lot of runners on social media and writing about running exploits is the norm. Other people might find it bragg-y but runners do it all the time.
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i guess we all do it from time to time, i also guess we all occasionally need a pat on the back and its our clumsy way of asking for it x #alittlebitofeverything
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I may have been guilty of a humblebrag or two! That’s a great analysis – our clumsy way of looking for some validation.
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Oh my, you crack me up!! LOL. I love this though, and may be guilty of a few myself :/.
Thanks for linking up @LiveLifeWell!
Blessings,
Amy
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I may have humblebragged myself a time or two! ๐ Thanks for the chance to share.
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I’ll be honest, it was the Peacock image that got my attention to this post but I love what you wrote here. Humblebrag, can’t say I’ve ever heard that term before…but what an awesome description. PS. if you liked the Dragonflies…stay tuned…I have Peacocks coming soon ๐
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I will stay tuned! If you made dragonflies look beautiful, I can only imagine what you will do with peacocks!
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