Inquiry · “You Are Not Your Thoughts”
The Steps of Humility
To cultivate humility by honestly knowing oneself as one truly is — making this self-knowledge the firm ground from which the soul can ascend toward God.
Steps of Humility: Humility is knowing yourself as you truly are. First remove the “beam of pride” that distorts the picture; then take the honest truth about yourself as a ladder to climb, not a pit to fall into. Begin in reverence before God, let self-knowledge make you merciful toward others, and aim at truth rather than self-loathing — “knowledge of the truth is the fruit of humility.”
What it is
This is Bernard’s discipline of humility grounded in honest self-knowledge. For Bernard, humility is not a feeling of worthlessness but a clear-eyed seeing of oneself as one actually is. He defines it plainly: humility is “a virtue by which a man knowing himself as he truly is, abases himself.” The point of entry is therefore the truth about oneself — and the first labour is to remove what blocks that truth: “If a person wants to know the full truth about himself he will have to get rid of the beam of pride which blocks out the light from his eye, and then set up in his heart a ladder of humility so that he can search into himself.” Humility, on this account, is not an end in itself but a foundation.
By coming to see one’s real condition — one’s faults, dependence, and need of God — the soul is freed from self-deception and made able to ascend. Bernard frames the whole as a ladder (echoing Jacob’s ladder, and St Benedict’s twelve steps before him): twelve steps of pride descending into self-deception, and twelve steps of humility ascending toward Truth.
The practice trains inner gnosis through honest self-seeing (All Is One), pairs personal effort with grace (The Inner Creates the Outer), and uncovers the deeper self beneath the proud self-image (All Is One).
(Distinct file note: this differs from the neutral, non-judgmental witnessing of and. Bernard’s self-knowledge is moral and relational — knowing oneself before God in order to abase pride and rise in truth. It also differs from, which targets and uproots specific faults; Bernard’s practice cultivates an overall disposition of truthful lowliness.)
The Method
Drawn from Bernard’s teaching:
- Seek the truth about yourself first. Humility begins with accurate self-seeing: “there is nothing more effective for acquiring humility than to find out the truth about oneself.” Look honestly at your real condition rather than your flattering self-image.
- Remove the beam of pride. Name and set aside the pride that distorts the picture — “get rid of the beam of pride which blocks out the light from your eye” — so that you can see clearly.
- Set up the ladder of humility in the heart. Take this self-knowledge as a foundation to climb from, not a pit to sink into; humility is the means of ascent toward God, not a verdict of despair.
- Begin in reverence (fear of God). Bernard’s first step is awe and reverence before God — holding God in wonder — which steadies the self-examination in love rather than mere self-disgust.
- Let self-knowledge open into mercy. Knowing your own failings makes you gentle with others’: “you will never have real mercy for the failings of another until you know and realize that you have the same failings in your soul.”
- Aim at truth, not self-loathing. The fruit is clarity: “knowledge of the truth is the fruit of humility.” Humility is reverence for the truth about yourself — a sinner who is loved by God — held without either inflation or contempt. (Sourcing note: definition and “beam of pride” / “ladder of humility” passages from standard English translations of The Steps of Humility and Pride; “fruit of humility” and the mercy counsel likewise. Wording varies slightly across translations.)
Source & Lineage
Bernard wrote The Steps of Humility and Pride early in his career as a meditation on the chapter on humility in the Rule of St Benedict, which lays out twelve degrees of humility for the monastic life.
Bernard reorders Benedict’s ladder and adds a mirrored descent — twelve steps of pride — making the work a map of the soul’s movement toward, or away from, Truth. It became one of the foundational Western texts on humility and self-knowledge. → author id bernard of clairvaux.
Common refinements
Mistaking humility for self-hatred. Bernard’s humility is truth, not contempt; the goal is to see clearly, including that you are loved.
- Skipping the “beam of pride.” Without facing one’s own distortion first, self-examination just rehearses the flattering self-image.
- Treating lowliness as the destination. It is a ladder — a foundation for ascent — not a pit to settle in.
- Self-knowledge without mercy. If seeing your faults doesn’t soften you toward others, the pride is still in charge.