John Bunyan, p. 334.
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Then Christian began to go forward; but Discretion, Piety, Charity, and Prudence would accompany him down to the foot of the hill. Then said Christian, "As it was difficult coming up, so, so far as I can see, it is dangerous going down." " Yes," said Prudence, "so it is; for it is a hard matter for a man to go down into the valley of Humiliation, as thou art now, and to catch no slip by the way;" " therefore," said they, " we are come out to accompany thee down the hill." So he began to go down, but very warily; yet he caught a slip or two.

— John Bunyan on Humility

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Then Christian began to go forward; but Discretion, Piety, Charity, and Prudence would accompany him down to the foot of the hill. Then said Christian, "As it was difficult coming up, so, so far as I can see, it is dangerous going down." " Yes," said Prudence, "so it is; for it is a hard matter for a man to go down into the valley of Humiliation, as thou art now, and to catch no slip by the way;" " therefore," said they, " we are come out to accompany thee down the hill." So he began to go down, but very warily; yet he caught a slip or two." in the context of "John Bunyan, p. 334." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Humility" (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895): Quotes reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert's Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895).) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
John Bunyan

About John Bunyan

John Bunyan (28 November 1628 – 3 August 1688) was a Christian writer and preacher, born at Harrowden, in the Parish of Elstow, England, most famous for the allegorical work The Pilgrim's Progress.