During the Rashidun Caliphate, the caliphs were as powerful as kings but took median salary, made their own bread, and wore tattered clothes. They believe all w

During the Rashidun Caliphate, the caliphs were as powerful as kings but took median salary, made their own bread, and wore tattered clothes. They believe all wealth would be audited in the afterlife. A king who ate well when his citizens didn't would be punished in the afterlife. So the caliphs tried to be as poor as possible, because that was the easiest way to avoid punishment. There was a story about the kings of Yemen met Caliph Abu Bakr and upon seeing the way he dressed, they donated all their crowns and jewels away. One moral for this is you can compete to be more humble than the humblest person you can think of. The theological appeal to humility is that everything comes from God - your family, opportunities, intelligence, inner drive. You don't need to be a theist to be humble though. Just think back about how you got where you are. What mentors helped you throughout life? What books, what schools, what colleagues, open source? Maybe your parents abandoned you, but what about the rest of society, from your siblings to government and voters. We've had wars to get rid of slavery, that's at least something to be grateful for. If you ever find yourself saying you were self taught and that you earned it all from your hard work, you should question that. Would you be happier buying that Ferrari? Maybe buy a nice steak for the people who have helped you this far.