Nothing can atone for the lack of modesty without which beauty is ungraceful and wit detestable.

Any strong quality needs something holding it in proportion or it turns on the person who has it. Cleverness without restraint becomes cruelty with good timing, and beauty without it becomes a demand for attention that wears everyone nearby down. Modesty here is not self-deprecation, it is not needing the room to keep noticing you.

Watch what your best quality does to other people when you are tired or unhappy. That is when it runs unsupervised. Holding it back once, on purpose, is the whole practice.