in all modesty
prep_phrase1
Idiomatic Prepended to praise of oneself or one's own doings, as a form of modesty.
- But at any rate, and on the principle that of two hypotheses, each in itself adequate, we should choose the simpler, I suggest in all modesty that we shall do better with our own than with Coleridge's, which has the further disadvantage of being scarcely amenable to positive evidence.1916, Arthur Quiller-Couch, On the Art of Writing, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, page 78:
- It seems to me, in all modesty, that you are well paired.1934, Isak Dinesen, Seven Gothic Tales, page 134:
2 more examples
- I think I may say, in all modesty, that I have done a rare thing. I have invented a new sensation.1990, Richard Connell, The Most Dangerous Game, page 20:
- I speak in all modesty as I say this, but I discovered at that moment that I have a fierce will to live.2000, Yann Martel, Life of Pi, page 197: