Our fourth grade teacher always said, “If someone has to tell you how honest they are, they probably aren’t.” The corollary is probably, “If someone has to tell you how humble they are, they probably aren’t.”
President Obama, for example, when he told an Australian interviewer that he and Prime Minister Rudd are both so damned smart and humble.
Reporter: One of your state department officials said there was meeting of minds between you and Kevin Rudd. Is there a meeting of minds (with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd)?
Obama: I really think there is. Kevin is somebody who I probably share as much of a world view as any world leader out there. I find him smart, but humble. He works wonderfully well in multilateral settings. He’s always constructive, incisive and he is like me a pragmatic person. He comes to the job wanting to provide better opportunities not just for this generation but for the next. But, I think he is somebody who isn’t an academic or thinking about abstract ideas. I think he’s constantly thinking in practical terms about how to get something done.
If there were ever two leaders who have every reason in the world to be humble, it would have to be Barack Obama and his down under doppelganger, Kevin Rudd.
