Humility: The Secret History of a Lost Virtue

Researched and written with support from an NEH Public Scholars grant, Humility: The Secret History of a Lost Virtue by Christopher M. Bellitto offers a cultural history of humility and biography of the idea of humility, revealing this lost virtue to be a secret defense against arrogance and incivility.

History demonstrates that when the virtue of humility is cast aside, excessive individualism follows. A person who lacks humility is at risk of developing a deceptive sense of certitude and at worst denies basic human rights, respect, and dignity to anyone they identify as the enemy.

Humility argues that the frightening alternative to humility has been the death of civility. In this book, Bellitto explores humility in Greco-Roman history, philosophy, and literature; in the ancient and medieval Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scriptures and sermons; in the Enlightenment; and in contemporary discussions of education in virtue and citizenship. The author encourages readers to recover and reclaim this lost virtue by developing a new perspective on humility as an alternative to the diseases of hubris, arrogance, and narcissism in society.