The perception of humility is a wide ranging subject and one that I am sure could fill many a thesis of many a final year university student. I decided to track down a few quotes based on humility. Of course, many of them dealt with man and God but one that jumped out at me was the following by Carl Sagan: “It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.” For me this is truly inspiring and I am sure has been

used in many a context. However, I find it relevant to me and my Higher Power. For I don’t believe in a God as perceived by organised religions – even though I was brought up a staunch Protestant. But I do believe in the higher power of the creation of the universe scientifically. The fact that, of all the billions of stars there are, we may be the only intelligent life is incredibly humbling and also makes me feel incredibly lucky that with some sort of higher power my parents wouldn’t have existed and I wouldn’t have existed to take my place as a mere fraction of a second in terms of the time of the universe. And in that fraction of a second I have learned, have hopefully inspired others but most of all have loved. For me that is the most humbling experience. To love and be loved in return

is an astoundingly beautiful thing. What are the odds in this vast universe, on this tiny dot filled with billions of people that I can find love? It still astonishes me. And so I continue to live my life being amazed and humbled by the beauty and intricacy of nature. From the incredible delicate hummingbird to the origins of the T-Rex I could probably go on and on and on about humility but thought I would end with another quote which I think is very relevant in these racially motivated times. “Just remember, when someone has an accent, it means that he knows one more language than you do.” ― Sidney Sheldon, Windmills of the Gods Tim