'T is better to be lowly born,

And range with humble livers in content,

Than to be perked up in a glistering grief,

And wear a golden sorrow.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): King Henry VIII. Act ii. Sc. 3.

O fading honours of the dead!

O high ambition, lowly laid!

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832): Lay of the Last Minstrel. Canto ii. Stanza 10.

I will show myself highly fed and lowly taught.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): All's Well that Ends Well. Act ii. Sc. 2.

Be lowly wise:

Think only what concerns thee and thy being.

John Milton (1608-1674): Paradise Lost. Book viii. Line 173.