About this quote

Growth of character stalls as long as you quietly rank yourself above the people around you. The shift has to be freely chosen — not humility forced by circumstance but a deliberate willingness to take the lowest place, which is what finally loosens the ego's grip.

When to use it

• A veteran manager carries the chairs and clears the plates after a team lunch without being asked.
• A star player spends the off-season mentoring rookies who might one day take his spot.
• A surgeon defers to a nurse's warning about a patient instead of pulling rank.