100 Hubris Quotes From Across Literature And Culture That Everyone Should Read

Hubris, a word that originated from ancient Greek, is defined as the excessive amounts of confidence or pride felt internally by any human.

Hubris has been said to be unreasonable and a bringer of wrath by people of wisdom. These famous hubris quotes will make you reflect and dive deep into a train of thoughts about human behavior and excessive overconfidence.

These quotes on hubris can act as a perfect food for thought or a start to a deep conversation. So let's check the best hubris quotes that will rejuvenate you. Check out key quotes and 'King Lear' quotes.

These quotes about hubris will make you feel enlightened and will prove as an eye-opener. This section includes Creon hubris quotes and Macbeth hubris quotes.

1."Hubris itself will not let you be an artist."

- Larry Wall.

2."It now appears that the world is filled with people who believe that everyone should be interested in everything they have to say about anything - people who tweet, you might call them. I find this so astonishing, my own hubris pales in comparison."

-Alice McDermott.

3."The first lesson every child of Athena learned: Mom was the best at everything, and you should never, ever suggest otherwise."

- Rick Riordan.

4."It's hubris to think that the way we see things is everything there is."

- Lisa Randall.

5.“There is no more deadly peril than disobedience;

States are devoured by it, homes laid in ruins,

Armies defeated, victory turned to rout.

White simple obedience saves the lives of hundreds

Of honest folk."

- Creon.

6."Do you think I meant country matters?"

-Hamlet.

7."In an outburst of hubris the overfed body will rush into sickness, while the jack-in-office will rush into the unrighteousness that hubris always breeds."

-Plato.

8."There is none but he whose being I do fear; and under him. My genius is rebuked, as, it is said, ark Antony's was by Caesar."

-Macbeth.

The world has enough hubris quotes for us to know its bad. These hubris quotes focus on how overconfidence might be just as bad.

9. “The greater the artist, the greater the doubt. Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize."

― Robert Hughes.

10.“Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.”

― Jane Austen, 'Pride and Prejudice'.

10.“Overconfidence blurs out the risk. Inferiority magnifies it.”

― Toba Beta, 'Betelgeuse Incident: Insiden Bait Al-Jauza'.

11."Feelings of superiority always stem from an illusion."

-Marty Rubin.

12."I think there's a lot of naivete and hubris within our mix of personalities. That's probably our worst crime."

-Ian Williams.

13.“Do not let arrogance go to your head and despair to your heart; do not let compliments go to your head and criticisms to your heart; do not let success go to your head and failure to your heart.”

― Roy T. Bennett, 'The Light in the Heart'.

14.“People who make up their minds about something never listen to advice - especially when it's to the contrary.”

― Steven Erikson, 'Reaper's Gale'.

15.“Better not perceive yourselves too high, O humans. ”

― Toba Beta, 'My Ancestor Was an Ancient Astronaut'.

16."I think self-doubt, as grim as it can be, makes me a better writer. Stasis and hubris would probably be the death knell for my career."

-Kristan Higgins.

17.“He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.”

― George Bernard Shaw, 'Major Barbara'.

18.“When we don’t put the brakes on our self-absorption, we have nothing stopping us from total self-destruction.”

― Zeena Schreck, 'Beatdom #11: The Nature Issue'.

19."It's only hubris if I fail."

- Julius Caesar.

20."Feelings of inferiority and superiority are the same. They both come from fear."    

-Robert Anthony.

21.“No civilization, no matter how mighty it may appear to itself, is indestructible.”

― Niall Ferguson, 'Civilization: The West and the Rest'.

22.“We are rarely proud when we are alone.”

― Voltaire.

A narcissist is a human in excess admiration of themselves which results in hubris. These hubris quotes are yet another example of why hubris is destructive.

23.“Narcissists are consumed with maintaining a shallow false self to others. They're emotionally crippled souls that are addicted to attention. Because of this they use a multitude of games, in order to receive adoration.”

― Shannon L. Alder.

24."The antidote to hubris, to overweening pride, is irony, that capacity to discover and systematize ideas. "

- Ralph Ellison.

25. "Continue to learn with humility, not hubris. Hubris is boring."

-Jimmy Iovine.

26."Ancient societies had anthropomorphic gods: a huge pantheon expanding into centuries of dynastic drama; fathers and sons, martyred heroes, star-crossed lovers, the deaths of kings - stories that taught us of the danger of hubris and the primacy of humility."

-Tom Hiddleston.

26.“Guard your hubris. Remember Pax. Pride kills.”

― Pierce Brown, 'Golden Son'.

27.“The truth posed a great dilemma for a man who always had to be right, and yet, for all his grandeur, was often wrong.”

― David Halberstam, 'The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War'.

28.“Arrogant men with knowledge make more noise from their mouth than making a sense from their mind.”

― Amit Kalantri, 'Wealth of Words'.

29."I don't own the personal hubris to assume that any book I'm writing is going to get published."

-Mark Spragg.

30. "There are a lot of people who are doing wonderful things, quietly, with no motive of greed, or hostility toward other people, or delusions of superiority."

-Charles Kuralt.

31.“What separates stupidity and smartness is just a tittle of pride and overconfidence.”

― Sinario Vesta, 'Shambala Sect'.

32.“Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you.”

― Andrew Murray, 'Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness'.

33.“The sadistic narcissist perceives himself as Godlike, ruthless and devoid of scruples, capricious and unfathomable, emotion-less and non-sexual, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent, a plague, a devastation, an inescapable verdict.”

― Sam Vaknin.

34."Honesty was a thing that could never be a thing. In a blaze of hubris and misplaced enthusiasm, we kowtowed to it, thinking it would make us better people, but conveniently forgetting that an abstraction was incompatible with the specificity of a human's needs and wants."

- Erin Bomboy.

35."Amassing of wealth is an opportunity for good deeds, not hubris."

-Thucydides.

36."The silent killer of all great men and women of achievement - particularly men, I don't know why, maybe it's the testosterone - I think it's narcissism. Even more than hubris. And for women, too. Narcissism is the killer."

- James Woods.

37.“In my opinion, to assume a persons’ motivations, life experiences or self identity may, at best, demonstrate one’s ignorance and, at worst, display one’s hubris.”

― Tristan A. Star.

38.“Small-mindedness is intensified by things such as big-headedness.”

― Mokokoma Mokhonoana.

39.“Even great men bow before the Sun; it melts hubris into humility.”

― Dejan Stojanovic.

40."What I've found in my research is that realism and self-honesty are the antidote to ego, hubris, and delusion. "

-Ryan Holiday.

These hubris quotes will make you think the next time you are arrogant to someone.

41."Hubris, arrogance, is just one step ahead of loss of integrity, because if you think you're better than other people, you know more, then you're going to think, as many leaders have, that the rules don't apply to them - so they lose their integrity."

-Charles Koch.

42. "This is the story of Isaac and his time in America, the last turning of the centuries, when the hubris of men led them to believe they could disregard even nature itself. "

- Erik Larson.

43. “When I look at narcissism through the vulnerability lens, I see the shame-based fear of being ordinary. I see the fear of never feeling extraordinary enough to be noticed, to be lovable, to belong, or to cultivate a sense of purpose.”

― Brené Brown, 'Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead'.

44.“The spirit of arrogance most definitely makes you shine. It paints a bright red target on your own forehead.”

― Criss Jami, 'Killosophy'.

45.“Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves.”

― Emily Brontë.

46.“Overconfidence precedes carelessness.”

― Toba Beta, 'My Ancestor Was an Ancient Astronaut'.

47."Permanent superiority has never been realized by any nation in history. After the rise comes the fall."

-Paul Harris.

48."Without any intended hubris, I've lead a pretty exciting life. What I've tried to do in Mission Compromised is draw on those experiences to create a sense of excitement and realism within the story."

–Oliver North.

49. “You can’t spend his money if you’re dead.”

I’ll acquire expensive habits in the afterlife.

There’s a difference between confidence and arrogance.”

― Leigh Bardugo, 'Six of Crows'.

50.“Pride is born as a mountaintop on a valley, but dies as an abyss in which it is too deep and too dark to see the better.”

― Criss Jami, 'Healology'.

51."The broader message is that technological hubris will always get you in trouble with nature."

-Erik Larson.

51."Whatever makes us feel superior to other people, whatever tempts us to convey a sense of superiority, that is the gravity of our sinful nature, not grace."

-Philip Yancey.

52. “The strongest man can have the weakest weakness. We must never be overconfident. Humbleness is always required”

― Munia Khan, 'Attainable'.

53.“I think writers are the most narcissistic people.”

― Sylvia Plath.

54."Unbridled talent can handicap you with hubris."

- Khang Kijarro Nguyen.

Hubris quotes like these make us look closely at pride as an emotion. These hubris quotes will make you soar above vanity and be humble.

55.“Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man... It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition is gone, pride is gone.”

― C.S. Lewis, 'Mere Christianity'.

56. "Hubris means deadly pride. Thinking you can do things better than anyone else."

-Rick Riordan.

57."We're all victims of our own hubris at times."

- Kevin Spacey.

58.“Power swells the head and shatters the crown.”

― Stewart Stafford.

59. “But who names a starship the Icarus? What kind of man possess that much hubris, that he dares it to fall?”

― Amie Kaufman, 'These Broken Stars'.

60. “You never really learn much from hearing yourself speak.”

― George Clooney.

61."My briefest ever definition of science fiction is 'Hubris clobbered by Nemesis.'"

-Brian Aldiss.

62.“The more educated someone is, the less likely it usually is for them to say that they do not know, when they do not know.”

― Mokokoma Mokhonoana.

63."It is always legitimate to wish to rise above one's self, never above others."

-Julia Ward Howe.

64. “People are way too optimistic about the power they assume they have got to control how they are being perceived. They don't realize that none of the armours they wear is free of holes!”

― Lukhman Pambra.

65.“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures bristling with prejudice and motivated by pride and vanity.”

― Dale Carnegie,' How to Win Friends and Influence People'.

66.“Every stance unchallenged is positioned to boast on some victorious moral high ground.”

― Criss Jami.

67."Sometimes, the gods are kind. And hubris is the worst of sins. "

- Christian Cameron.

68."Feeling superior doesn't make one superior. Hubris does not humble others."

-Guy R. McPherson.

69."Hubris is interesting, because you get people who are often very clever, very powerful, have achieved great things, and then something goes wrong - they just don't know when to stop. "

-Margaret MacMillan.

70.“The word I use is hubris. Our word for arrogance that scrapes the stars, for violence and towering rage as ugly as the gods.”

― Madeline Miller, 'The Song of Achilles'.

71.“Arrogance on the part of the meritorious is even more offensive to us than the arrogance of those without merit: for merit itself is offensive.”

― Friedrich Nietzsche.

72. “Never believe you are the best, but believe you are one of the best.”

― Auliq Ice.

73. "The way of a superior man is threefold: virtuous, he is free from anxieties; wise,

he is free from perplexities; bold, he is free from fear."  

-Confucius.

74.“For the most part people are not curious except about themselves.”

― John Steinbeck, 'The Winter of Our Discontent'.

75."The problem is not lack of competence, it is confidence without competence."

- Paul Gibbons.

76.“I am sufficiently proud of my knowing something to be modest about my not knowing all.”

― Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita.

77.“Men who thought of themselves as gods fell the farthest, and the hardest.”

― Nenia Campbell, 'Cease and Desist'.

Excessive self-superiority is self-destruction and these hubris quotes show us exactly that!

78."Continuously feeling superior is a characteristic of immaturity."

-Eraldo Banovac.

79.“All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.”

― Sophocles, 'Antigone'.

80."Experience is not the enemy: It is the hubris that is often a by-product of experience that is our greatest enemy. "

-  Liz Wiseman.

81."There is no more insidious poison than hubris”

― C.A.A. Savastano.

82.“'We Lannisters do have a certain pride,' said Tyrion Lannister.

'Pride?' Catelyn snapped. His mocking tone and easy manner made her angry. 'Arrogance, some might call it. Arrogance and avarice and lust for power.'”

― George R.R. Martin, 'A Game of Thrones'.

83. “Overconfidence gets you dead.”

― Pittacus Lore, 'United as One'.

84. “Some of the biggest cases of mistaken identity are among intellectuals who have trouble remembering that they are not God.”

― Thomas Sowell.

85.  “I'm always unsure about people who are so sure of themselves.”

― Joyce Rachelle.

86.“People who worship only themselves get a slick, polished look -- like monuments. Too bad they had to go so soon.”

― Vanna Bonta, Degrees: 'Thought Capsules'.

87.“Confidence is the prize given to the mediocre”

― Robert Hughes.

88.“It is the certainty that they possess the truth that makes men cruel. ”

― Anatole France.

89.“Imagining that you are deep and complex, but others are simple, is one of the primary signs of malignant selfishness.”

― Stefan Molyneux.

90.“Each era has the fatal hubris to believe that it has once and for all climbed to the top of the mountain and can see everything as it is, from the highest and most objective vantage point possible.”

― Eric Metaxas, 'Seven Women: And the Secret of Their Greatness'.

91“Dreams of innocence are just that; they usually depend on a denial of reality that can be its own form of hubris.”

― Michael Pollan, 'The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals'.

92. “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”

― Criss Jami, 'Salomé: In Every Inch In Every Mile'.

93.“Annabeth: My fatal flaw. That's what the Sirens showed me. My fatal flaw is hubris.

Percy: The brown stuff they spread on veggie sandwiches?

Annabeth: No, Seaweed Brain. That's HUMMUS. Hubris is worse. Hubris means deadly pride, Percy. Thinking you can do things better than anyone else... Even the gods.”

― Rick Riordan, 'The Sea of Monsters'.

The hubris in 'Frankenstein' was perfectly caught by these quotes.

94."Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room and continued a long time traversing my bed-chamber.”

-Victor.

95.“The saintly soul of Elizabeth shown like a shrine-dedicated lamp in our peaceful home.”

-Victor.

96.“But I had rather die than return shamefully, my purpose unfulfilled.”

-Walton.

These Oedipus hubris quotes will show you how a God saw their downfall and how to control hubris as a human.

97.“I count myself the son of Chance, the great goddess, giver of all good things—I'll never see myself disgraced.”

-'Oedipus Rex'.

98."Your words are just; but to constrain the gods to what they will not, passes all men's power."

-'Oedipus Rex'.

99. "I, too, might once have ruled, but stupidly beguiled by power and pride,  misused my strength--I acted wantonly;"

-'Oedipus Rex'.

100.“I thought it wrong, my children, to hear the truth from others, messengers. Here I am myself—you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus”

-'Oedipus Rex'.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for hubris quotes then why not take a look at wild quotes, or thought-provoking quotes.