“…the Body of Christ is composed of many members. Like the parts of the body, these members serve different functions. And, in fact, as we give greater honor to the less presentable parts of our bodies, so God gives greater honor to those who do not get the attention of those in the public eye (1 Cor. 24). Therefore, no one should despise the seeming lowliness of the work that so many do. They do not labor for our applause but for the Christ and His Church. The unrecognized servants of God deserve our esteem and our prayers of thanks to God.” (Fr. Basil)
“Many of us give far too much attention to what other people think about us. We want the approval of others and fall into resentment when their praise and appreciation are not forthcoming. When that happens, the problem is not with how others view us, but that we have become captive to the passions of pride and vainglory, which can easily corrupt even the best qualities that anyone possesses. The more praise that people receive, the more likely they are to have an exalted view of themselves. It should not be surprising, then, that those who humbly hide their virtues from others open themselves to great spiritual strength.” (Fr. Philip LeMasters)
“We all, every one of us, want our God-given dignity affirmed by others. We want to receive attention. We want to be valued, appreciated, admired, and sought after. We want to feel cherished and adored—to be “in” with others. We want to know that our lives matter. We want to be loved. That’s why some of us so desperately want to be famous. It’s why we are overly concerned with our reputations, why we loathe obscurity, and why our confidence hangs on the opinions of others. When it comes right down to it, some of us believe that we matter if and only if hordes of people are fawning over us. But I’ve noticed that those who aren’t obsessed with being noticed are often the healthiest and wisest people among us—and also deeply loved by many.” (Marlena Graves)
“We should never do anything for self-aggrandizement or worldly recognition but only for the honor we have from God. This is not easy for us. We do not want our brave deeds to go unnoticed. We want valor with renown, not without. But rather than give into this desire, we should toil silently without calling attention to ourselves.” (Anne Marie Gazzolo)
“We should, I believe, distrust states of mind which turn our attention upon ourselves. Even at our sins we should look no longer than is necessary to know and to repent them: and our virtues or progress (if any) are certainly a dangerous object of contemplation. When the sun is vertically above a man he casts no shadow: similarly when we have come to the Divine meridian our spiritual shadow (that is, our consciousness of self) will vanish.” (C. S. Lewis)