50 Swallow Your Pride Quotes to Control Your Ego

By Clifton Sankofa

School Leader, Language Arts Expert & Master Quote Curator

Published September 3, 2023

Learn more about the history of American idioms with our swallow your pride quotes.

We all have to swallow our pride at some point in life.

Find out more about this interesting phrase and its psychology with our swallow your pride quotes.

What does it mean to swallow your pride?

To swallow your pride means to take action despite feeling embarrassed or uncomfortable.

In this sense, swallowing means putting up with something unpleasant.

People can swallow their pride by

Apologizing for a mistake.
Adopting a more humble stance.
Seeing past the error of another.

The idea of swallowing one’s pride goes back a long time.

The concept can even be found in the Bible.

In the book of Job, chapter 7, verse 19, we find the following:

“How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?”

Is pride a good or bad thing?

Labeling things as good or bad can be limiting.

However, we all have universal ideas of pleasant and unpleasant.

Pride can have several connotations.

Pride can form as a result of mastery of a skill, rightfully manifesting as someone feels good about their abilities.

It can also be synonymous with arrogance.

In the phrase, swallow your pride; pride refers to arrogance.

When should I swallow my pride?

There are many opportunities in life where swallowing your pride is beneficial.

A person might suppress pride while seeking humility out of choice or necessity.

Sometimes, partners or friends must swallow their pride to work out a difference or misunderstanding.

Professionally, sometimes we must swallow our pride when co-creating with a colleague or higher-up.

Sometimes, we have to swallow our pride for physical or mental health.

An action or an object can communicate that we must swallow our pride.

For example, let’s say a friend gifts you a dieting book for your birthday or the Holiday Season.

This is a prime example of a moment where you might have to swallow your pride.

Your friends are communicating several messages to you through the gift.

If you can swallow your pride and see past the idea they might be concerned about your health, you can embrace the idea that your friends care enough about you to help.

To learn more, check out our swallow your pride quotes below.

Short swallow you pride quotes about learning to let things go

Why is pride such a challenging emotion to work through?

1. “I’m too full to swallow my pride.” ― The Weeknd

2. “I want a girl that can swallow my pride.” ― Frank Zappa

3. “It’s better to swallow pride than blood.” ― David Bischoff

4. “No one has ever choked from swallowing their pride.” — GZA

5. “I’ll swallow my blood before I swallow my pride.” ― Al Capone

6. “Swallow your pride occasionally; it’s not fattening.” ― Frank Tyger

7. “In love swallow your pride but never your dignity.” ― Carlos Salinas

8. “I learned to swallow my pride. Swallow it and walk away.” ― Chris Lee

9. “Don’t bark your pride if you can’t swallow your ego.” ― Abhishek Nawar

10. “Pride would be a lot easier to swallow if it didn’t taste so bad.” ― Brad Moore

The top swallow your pride quotes about negotiating with your ego

These quotes remind us why many people struggle to swallow their pride.

11. “Swallow your pride, you will not die, it’s not poison.” ― Bob Dylan

12. “Pride will always be the longest distance between two people.” — Roni Kotel

13. “Swallow your pride and admit that we all need help at times.” ― Huston Smith

14. “When you swallow your pride, don’t choke on your ego.” ― Frank Sonnenberg

15. “When you swallow that pride, Eve, take care you don’t choke on it.” ― Nora Roberts

16. “Humility is the ability to give up your pride and still retain your dignity.” ― Vanna Bonta

17. “Swallow your pride occasionally, and not to worry, it has zero calories.” ― Narin Grewal

18. “If you cannot swallow your pride, you are not thirsty enough for her love.” ― Pierre Jeanty

19. “Why bear malice? Just let it go. So what of pride? It will swallow you whole.” ― Ray Davies

20. “It’s hard to swallow your pride. That’s why I slather mine in mayonnaise.” ― Stephen Colbert

The best swallow your pride quotes for learning to work well with others

Swallowing your pride is not a sign of weakness but rather a sign of maturity.

21. “Stop all this weeping, swallow your pride/ You will not die, it’s not poison.” ― Bob Dylan, Tombstone Blues

22. “Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.” ― C.S. Lewis

23. “If you can’t swallow your pride, you can’t lead. Even the highest mountain had animals that step on it.” ― Jack Weatherford

24. “Be careful with words you utter; you might not swallow your own words, but you might bite your tongue as well..” ― Jinnul Jr.

25. “If you wanted to be the best, then you had to swallow your pride and become a student of the game first.” ― Jon Osborne, Kill Me Once

26. “Yet sometimes you just have to sprinkle a dash of sugar on the spoonful of pride and swallow it with a humility chaser.” ― Erica Larsen

27. “Please swallow your pride. If I have things, you need to borrow. For no one can fill those of your needs. That you won’t let show.” ― Bill Withers

28. “Even if you have a bad game, you have to swallow your pride and sign. It takes a little time, but it makes the kids happy. And it makes you feel good, too.” ― Lorrie Fair

29. “Final cut is overrated. Only fools keep insisting on always having the final word. The wise swallow their pride in order to get to the best possible cut.” ― Wim Wenders

30. “Pride is more difficult to subdue than a wild lion. If you can’t swallow your pride, you can’t lead. A leader can never be happy until his people are happy.” ― Genghis Khan

Famous swallow your pride quotes about letting things go

Swallowing your pride is something you do because you are wise.

31. “Swallowing your pride isn’t lethal.” ― Georgette Mosbacher

32. “I’m too full to swallow my pride. I can’t stand losing you.” ― Sylvia Plath

33. “Swallow your pride but don’t hide behind your ego.” — Marvin Williams

34. “He warned them that if you can’t swallow your pride, you can’t lead.” ― Jack Weatherford

35. “But I encourage you to swallow your pride and hear your friends out.” ― Cheryl Strayed

36. “Swallow your pride. Hold your tongue. But the fact was, I had real difficulty with those particular virtues.” ― Jen Crane

37. “When you’re in love, sometimes you have to swallow your pride, and sometimes you have to keep your pride.” ― Emily Giffin

38. “Sometimes you just need to be quiet, swallow your pride and accept you were wrong. It is not about giving up, it’s about growing up.” ― John Geiger

39. “I’ll even swallow my pride and ask a favor as momentous as the one I just asked of a man who has done nothing but try to drive a wedge between her and myself.” ― J.L. Sheppard

40. “The mind-closing danger of biased beliefs occurs when we don’t know we hold them. Sometimes we have to swallow our pride and engage in clear-eyed analysis.” ― Paul Pearsall

Swallow your pride quotes and sayings about life

We end our list with these fantastic swallow your pride quotes to live by.

41. “In love swallow your pride but never your dignity.” — Carlos Salinas

42. “Don’t worry about your pride, worry about your principles.” — Tim Fargo

43. “Swallow your pride and admit that we all need help at times.” — Huston Smith

44. “If you are filled with pride, then you’ll have no room for wisdom.” — African Proverb

45. “Even if you have a bad game, you have to swallow your pride and sign.” — Lorrie Fair

46. “It’s hard to swallow your pride. That’s why I slather mine in mayonnaise.” — Stephen Colbert

47. “Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right.” — Ezra Taft Benson

48. “Establishing a friendship after divorce takes great effort and a lot of swallowing of your pride and ego.” — Yolanda Hadid

49. “You kind of have to swallow your pride a little bit, realize we won the game, be excited about it. We get to go back to D.C.” — Clayton Kershaw

50. “This person has already wronged you in some way, and now you are the one who has to swallow your pride, give something up, in order to forgive him.” ― Bree Despain