Animal analogues The classical Greek word used to translate meekness was that for a horse that had been tamed and bridled. The buffalo was to the Buddhists a lesson in meekness. Literary examples Meekness is used to characterise the nature of Tess in Tess of the D'Urbervilles. The Heroine of Possession: A Romance judges the hero as "a gentle and unthreatening being. Meek, she thought drowsily, turning out the light. Meek." Criticism Beethoven rejected meekness and equality in favor of cultural elitism: “Power is the moral principle of those who excel others”. Nietzsche rejected meekness as part of a parasitic revolt by the low against the lofty, the manly, and the high. See also Gandhi Jesus Passive resistance Patient Griselda Quakers Seven virtues Further reading References Christian ethics Religious ethics Virtue