WHATEVER GOODNESS WE HAVE WE OWE TO GOD, LET'S NOT BE LIKE THOSE WHO SAY THEY ARE "HUMBLE" BUT TAKE UMBRAGE WHEN ANYONE REPROVES THEM

 

Many are humble in word, but not in heart. They say: “I am worse than all: I deserve a thousand hells.” But when anyone reproves them, or says a word that displeases them, they immediately take umbrage. They are like hedgehogs, which put out their bristles as soon as they are touched. But how is it – you say you are worse than all, and yet you cannot bear a word?  “He who is truly humble,” says St. Bernard, “esteems himself good for nothing, and desires to be considered good for nothing by others as well.” 

Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, The Path to Salvation