What is modesty? Now that's a good question!

Hello everyone!

As you've found my sweet little spot in the world, I'm guessing that like me, you've noticed that our culture is tending to forget that sometimes its much more appealing to cover up, rather than to reveal.  Modesty is fast becoming something that no one considers as either important or desirable.

So what is modesty?  Well according to Webster's 1828 dictionary,

 
MOD'ESTY, n. [L. modestia.] That lowly temper which accompanies a moderate estimate of one's own worth and importance. This temper when natural, springs in some measure from timidity, and in young and inexperienced persons, is allied to bashfulness and diffidence. In persons who have seen the world, and lost their natural timidity, modesty springs no less from principle than from feeling, and is manifested by retiring, unobtrusive manners, assuming less to itself than others are willing to yield, and conceding to others all due honor and respect, or even more than they expect or require.

2. Modesty, as an act or series of acts, consists in humble, unobtrusive deportment, as opposed to extreme boldness, forwardness, arrogance, presumption, audacity or impudence. Thus we say, the petitioner urged his claims with modesty; the speaker addressed the audience with modesty.

3. Moderation; decency.

4. In females, modesty has the like character as in males; but the word is used also as synonymous with chastity, or purity of manners. In this sense, modesty results from purity of mind, or from the fear of disgrace and ignominy fortified by education and principle. Unaffected modesty is the sweetest charm of female excellence, the richest gem in the diadem of their honor.

I think that most people only consider modesty as a form of dress.  If you're dressed from head to toe in a burqa, then you're being modest.  But note that the second definition of modesty is all about behavior.  So not only our clothing, but also our behavior can be either modest or immodest.

Hopefully, this blog will be a place for people to discover the beauty of modesty.  We can learn that it is not only a virtue, but one of the best virtues you can have.

Jay