Modernisers from humbler roots, such as Mr Gove and Mr Hilton, are fervent believers in things.
On the humbler side, Li acknowledges his company has much to learn from its global competitors.
In the election campaign, too, he stole the opposition's thunder by promising humbler, cleaner and more responsive government.
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The choice is often between dominating a small market or assuming a humbler role in a huge one.
Now it seems that Apple is finally learning the lesson, perhaps making the company appear just a bit humbler.
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In other areas of life, it may apply: for example, many successful entrepreneurs seem to spring from humbler origins.
In Japan (down from 37th to 51st place) kishas, or exclusive press clubs, froze out reporters from humbler outlets.
In both cases, each Fed chairman tried to play God rather than attend to his humbler job of maintaining a stable dollar.
But the Kennedys, as well as humbler sorts nearby, such as the owners of homes, boats and businesses, have not been persuaded.
Rectifying a signal sounds like an altogether humbler task than amplifying it.
But globalisation now seems to have admitted humbler folk into the jet-set.
Then, a year on, they face the occupational hazard of humbler soothsayers everywhere: how to explain to their followers why nothing much has changed.
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There have been some modern presidents who come from humbler beginnings.
Hence the giant companies that straddle the food industry concentrate on the heady work of marketing, leaving the messy mechanics of flour and water to humbler firms.
Moreover, advocates of a much humbler military posture underestimate the rewards military dynamism brings: in Britain's relationship with America and its clout at the United Nations and elsewhere.
But, in contrast to the histories of, say, the Manhattan project or the Internet, the stories behind these humbler sorts of invention may not be so well known.
He has tightened the close links between state government, industry and the Roman Catholic church, while keeping humbler supporters happy with an energy which awes even his foes.
It recently released a new air freshener with a motion sensor to tell it when to spray its perfume, which is a fifth more expensive than the humbler sort, for example.
The trouble with this peaceable suggestion is that Macedonia's humbler people, including its rank-and-file (mostly Slav) policemen, are not always as enlightened in inter-communal matters as their political leaders appear to be.
For a start, he comes from humbler origins.
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If nothing else, reflect on this: as the century shows, it is a humbler way of going about things than by following the conceited blueprints of politicians, the hubris of monopolistic businessmen, or the arrogance of scientists.
It wouldn't be fair to call this the blind leading the blind, but as the Morgan Stanley man admits in some of his humbler jottings, his act "is as much art as science" and subject to errant inputs.
Other notable speakers include Dean Karlan of Yale and President of Innovations for Poverty Action, who reflected on how the perception of microfinance has gone from being a poverty panacea to a far humbler expectation of helping the poor cope.
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The Republicans, in turn, agreed to a series of handouts for humbler folk that they had previously resisted, including an extension of benefits for the unemployed, a cut in payroll taxes and a renewal of Mr Obama's supposedly one-off tax credits for parents and college students.
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