Humility

“to temper and restrain the mind, lest it tend to high things immoderately” St. Thomas

St. Thomas treats it at II-II, q. 161. Set against pride, a capital vice. Its place on the Temperance page.

How the Authors Compare

Which side of the mean pride stands on. St. Thomas: “pride may be opposed by excess, both to magnanimity and humility” (II-II, q. 162, a. 1, ad 3); so Wouters, “By excess there is opposed pride” (n. 456), and Vermeersch (n. 729). Prümmer turns it round: “Opposed to humility by excess is inordinate self-abjection”, and pride by defect (II, n. 715); so Merkelbach, “Inordinate abasement is opposed to humility secondarily and by excess” (II, n. 1047), and Marc (n. 410).
The root of humility. Merkelbach, after St. Bernard: “Its foundation, namely, is knowledge of oneself” (II, n. 1042). Vermeersch: “we prefer to place the formal root of humility, rather than in one's own nothingness itself, in the origin of every good from God”, since the thought of one's nothingness alone can lead “to sadness or despair” (n. 724). St. Thomas puts the principle of both its knowledge and its restraint in “the reverence we bear to God” (II-II, q. 161, a. 6).
Its rank among the virtues. St. Thomas sets it after the theological virtues, the intellectual virtues and justice, and before all the rest (II-II, q. 161, a. 5); so Merkelbach and McHugh-Callan. Tanquerey sets religion above it too, and adds: “It is also commonly taught that prudence is more excellent than humility, because it is more universal and necessary” (n. 1086).
What it restrains. St. Thomas: humility suppresses “the movement of hope, which is the movement of a spirit aiming at great things” (II-II, q. 161, a. 4). Bontempi names two passions: humility is a virtue “so restraining the passion of Hope and of Boldness” that no one wishes more attributed to himself than befits him (On humility, n. 1).
Its vice by defect. Prümmer, Merkelbach, Marc and Wouters set inordinate self-abjection against humility. Vermeersch names instead “timidity” and pusillanimity, “vices which are opposed to fortitude and magnificence”, by which one “refuses to tend toward that which is proportioned to his power” (n. 729).

Each line is one thing said. Authors named first use those words. Those after “in nearly the same words” say the same thing differently; point at a name to see their words.

What It Is

St. Thomas: “to temper and restrain the mind, lest it tend to high things immoderately; and this belongs to the virtue of humility”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 161, a. 1In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 1041; Marc n. 410
The manuals, more fully: “the virtue which restrains the inordinate appetite for one's own excellence and inclines a man rightly to acknowledge his own mean condition on account of his subjection toward God”	Prümmer II, n. 712In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 1041; Tanquerey n. 1079; Wouters n. 454; Vermeersch n. 724
Most briefly: “Humility is the virtue that makes one modest in the desire of greatness.”	McHugh-Callan n. 2553
St. Bernard's definition, which the authors repeat: “by which man, by the truest knowledge of himself, becomes vile to himself”	Marc n. 410In nearly the same words: Bontempi On humility, n. 1; Merkelbach II, n. 1042
St. Bonaventure's: “voluntary self-abasement resulting from the knowledge of our own frailty”	Spirago HUMILITYIn nearly the same words: Bontempi On humility, n. 1

What It Is Not

The name: “a humble man is so called because he is, as it were, 'humo acclinis'”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 161, a. 1, ad 1In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 1041
Not humiliation suffered: “First, through an extrinsic principle, for instance when one is cast down by another, and thus humility is a punishment.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 161, a. 1, ad 1In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 2553; Merkelbach II, n. 1041
Not a show of lowliness: “this is "false humility," of which Augustine says in a letter (Ep. cxlix) that it is "grievous pride,"”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 161, a. 1, ad 2In nearly the same words: Spirago HUMILITY; McHugh-Callan n. 2554
Not a denial of God's gifts: “for true virtue cannot be an enemy of truth”	Tanquerey n. 1079In nearly the same words: Prümmer II, n. 712; Spirago HUMILITY
So: “to be unwilling to acknowledge them is not humility, but ingratitude”	Tanquerey n. 1079
Not a flight from all honor: “Nor does humility prohibit every appetite for glory”	Prümmer II, n. 712In nearly the same words: Tanquerey n. 1079
Not faint-heartedness: “Discouragement and pusillanimity are not characteristics of true humility.”	Spirago HUMILITY

Its Seat and Its Rule

In the appetite, ruled by knowledge, rooted in reverence: “humility has essentially to do with the appetite, in so far as a man restrains the impetuosity of his soul, from tending inordinately to great things: yet its rule is in the cognitive faculty, in that we should not deem ourselves to be above what we are. Also, the principle and origin of both these things is the reverence we bear to God.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 161, a. 6In nearly the same words: Prümmer II, n. 712; Merkelbach II, n. 1042; Marc n. 410
Twofold, after St. Bernard: “humility of judgment or cognition, by which we know that we are nothing before God; and humility of affection or of heart, by which we tread underfoot the glory of the world”	Marc n. 410In nearly the same words: Spirago HUMILITY; Prümmer II, n. 712
Its seat: “Wherefore the seat of humility is the irascible appetite and the will”	Vermeersch n. 724In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 1042
Three acts: “Its regulatory act is in the intellect”	McHugh-Callan n. 2554

Where It Belongs

A part of temperance: “just as meekness suppresses the movement of anger, so does humility suppress the movement of hope, which is the movement of a spirit aiming at great things. Wherefore, like meekness, humility is accounted a part of temperance.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 161, a. 4In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 1042
Under modesty: “the one under which humility is comprised is modesty”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 161, a. 4In nearly the same words: Vermeersch n. 724
Yet also near justice: “Humility thus fully understood can also be called a certain justice toward God, rendering more perfectly to God what is His.”	Vermeersch n. 725
Beside magnanimity: “Although humility and magnanimity agree as to matter, they differ as to mode, by reason of which magnanimity is reckoned a part of fortitude, and humility a part of temperance.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 161, a. 4, ad 3In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 2553
How they differ: “And so humility presupposes that which belongs to magnanimity but adds something beyond”	Merkelbach II, n. 1041

Toward God and Toward Others

To every neighbor: “every man, in respect of that which is his own, ought to subject himself to every neighbor, in respect of that which the latter has of God's”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 161, a. 3In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 1044; Wouters n. 454
But not God's gifts in himself: “humility does not require a man to subject what he has of God's to that which may seem to be God's in another”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 161, a. 3
So one may think himself lowest of all without falsehood: “If we set what our neighbor has of God's above that which we have of our own, we cannot incur falsehood.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 161, a. 3, ad 2In nearly the same words: Prümmer II, n. 712; McHugh-Callan n. 2555
Billuart's reason, as Merkelbach gives it: “he can think that if others had been endowed with so many graces and benefits as he himself has received, they would be better than he and more pleasing to God”	Merkelbach II, n. 1044In nearly the same words: Prümmer II, n. 712
Superiors, outwardly: “but outwardly prelates and persons constituted in dignity ought not to subject themselves to inferiors”	Prümmer II, n. 712In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 2555; Merkelbach II, n. 1046

Its Excellence

Its rank: “Therefore after the theological virtues, after the intellectual virtues which regard the reason itself, and after justice, especially legal justice, humility stands before all others.”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 161, a. 5In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 1043; McHugh-Callan n. 2556; Vermeersch n. 725
Why: “Humility makes a man a good subject to ordinance of all kinds and in all matters”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 161, a. 5In nearly the same words: Tanquerey n. 1086
The foundation, by removing pride: “First by way of removing obstacles: and thus humility holds the first place, inasmuch as it expels pride”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 161, a. 5, ad 2In nearly the same words: Prümmer II, n. 713; McHugh-Callan n. 2556; Concina I, ch. IV, n. IX
Yet faith is the nobler foundation: “faith is the foundation in a more excellent way than humility”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 161, a. 5, ad 2In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 1043; McHugh-Callan n. 2556
St. Augustine to Dioscorus: “that way is, first, humility; second, humility; third, humility”	Concina I, ch. IV, n. XIn nearly the same words: Prümmer II, n. 713; Marc n. 410

Its Degrees

St. Bernard's three: “One humility is sufficient, another abundant, another superabundant.”	Prümmer II, n. 714In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 1045
Sufficient: “to be subject to a greater and not to prefer oneself to an equal”	Prümmer II, n. 714
Abundant: “to be subject to an equal and not to prefer oneself to a lesser”	Prümmer II, n. 714
Superabundant: “to be subject to a lesser”	Prümmer II, n. 714
St. Benedict's twelve, as St. Thomas orders them: “Wherefore the aforesaid degrees of humility include something regarding the root of humility, namely the twelfth degree, "that a man fear God and bear all His commandments in mind."”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 161, a. 6In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 1045
Not all of them acts: “These grades are not all species and acts of humility, but certain ones are antecedent dispositions or consequent signs.”	Merkelbach II, n. 1045
St. Bonaventure's three, in Bontempi: “The first is that, considering our own worthlessness and our sins, we acknowledge ourselves needy with a humble mind, neither boast, nor seek after praise and honors.”	Bontempi On humility, n. 6
“The second degree is, when a man not only despises himself, but also patiently accepts being despised by others”	Bontempi On humility, n. 7
“The third degree is, when even in great gifts a man does not flatter himself, but refers all to the Giver above”	Bontempi On humility, n. 8

Its Acts and Its Signs

Its acts: “contempt of oneself; to account oneself unworthy of the gifts of God; not to desire to be esteemed great; to desire to be held as lowly; to subject oneself to God and to men on account of God; in external things and functions to embrace that which is more abject, unless the contrary is necessary”	Prümmer II, n. 714In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 1045
Its higher degrees: “Higher degrees of humility are those which do not desire honor, or which are pained by it, or which desire dishonor.”	McHugh-Callan n. 2554
Its signs: “He is not always calling himself the chief of sinners; uncalled for self -blame generally betokens pride.”	Spirago HUMILITY
“He is not puffed up in prosperity, nor cast down in adversities”	Tanquerey n. 1083In nearly the same words: Spirago HUMILITY

How It Is Gained

Its Christian perfection: “Christian humility is perfected by contempt of earthly sublimity, which is done according to divine ordination.”	Vermeersch n. 727
“Moreover this perfection is cultivated both by religious obedience and by voluntary poverty.”	Vermeersch n. 727
By knowing God, and so oneself: “St. Augustine prayed for the knowledge of God, that he might thereby know himself.”	Spirago HUMILITYIn nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 1042
By taming pride and practicing its acts: “Therefore it is of the greatest importance to cultivate humility assiduously”	Tanquerey n. 1086
After the example of Christ: “Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart.”	Bontempi On humility, n. 8In nearly the same words: Spirago HUMILITY; Concina I, ch. IV, n. X

The Vices Opposed

Pride, by excess: “pride may be opposed by excess, both to magnanimity and humility”	St. Thomas II-II, q. 162, a. 1, ad 3In nearly the same words: Wouters n. 456; Vermeersch n. 729
Or self-abjection by excess, and pride by defect: “Opposed to humility by excess is inordinate self-abjection”	Prümmer II, n. 715In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 1047; Marc n. 410
Self-abjection: “This inclines to imprudent self-abasement when it redounds to injury of the state or office which someone bears, or of the talent with which he is endowed, or to the disadvantage of those whom he ought to benefit.”	Merkelbach II, n. 1047In nearly the same words: Wouters n. 456
Or, by defect, timidity and pusillanimity: “But by defect the vicious propensities opposed to humility are both timidity”	Vermeersch n. 728