hide light under a bushel

To avoid utilizing or emphasizing one's talents. Don't give up drawing! You're a talented artist and shouldn't hide your light under a bushel.

Fig. to conceal one's good ideas or talents. (A biblical theme.) Jane has some good ideas, but she doesn't speak very often. She hides her light under a bushel. Don't hide your light under a bushel. Share your thoughts with other people.

Show extreme modesty, as in Even after Paul won the scholarship be went on hiding his light under a bushel. This expression, which does not necessarily express approval of this behavior, has its origin in the New Testament (Matthew 5:15): "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick." [Early 1600s]

To conceal one’s talents; to be extremely modest. The term comes from the Bible (Matthew 5:15): “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick.” The bushel in question was not presumably the unit of weight so called but the container that would hold it—in other words, a bushel basket. Although modesty is generally considered a desirable trait, those who have used this expression over the centuries do not necessarily extol or even recommend it.