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Comment by steve_b | Hacker News Reader

I've always wondered why after winning something (or in this case, getting 50k sign ups), people say "I'm humbled." I think the truth would be the opposite: "Wow, looks like I'm pretty awesome after all."

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http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/false_modesty

Yes, and it becomes to be a kind of cliché here and around. We could list them. Years ago we had the "X reasons to" lists, now we have "I'm very humble to be the best". It is a "preciosity" (not sure if this word applies correctly in English, I need to read Les Précieuses Ridicules, Molière, in English to make sure). Really intersting guys like PG do not usually have these preciosities themselves, but it is something that flourish during interesting times (like was Molière's).

In some ways the more awesome you are the more humility you have to signal, to avoid seeming arrogant.

Success (like getting a startup off the ground) takes a lot more than just personal skill/intelligence/hardwork- there's fortunate timing and circumstances, the hardwork and contributions of others, time and monetary investment of others, plain old chance luck. Recognizing that some part your achievements depended on others and things beyond your control both requires humility and can humble you.

That's not a bad state of mind, and it doesn't have to be just false modesty.

It's either misuse of English, or deliberate double-talk.

Original: http://www.jewishsightseeing.com/jewish_humor/punchlines_and...

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