Hide one's light under a bushel

O then doe not knit vp your Maſters talent in a Napkin; ſmother not his light vnder a buſhell; […] but aboue all, ſquander not avvay your rich portions by riotous living.

VVhen after all, a Man is fully convinced of Truth, and believes it in his Heart; yet, for Fear of Man, he hides this Light under a Bushel, by not confeſſing it before Men.

"Really, Mrs. Scudder," said gallant old General Wilcox, "where have you kept such a beauty all this time? It's a sin and a shame to hide such a light under a bushel."

He is singularly sparing in his correspondence, and unaccountably hides his light under a bushel.

[Y]ou've got a bright, intelligent face. I shouldn't wonder if you weren't rather clever. Why do you hide your light under a bushel?

He says I must become a writer. Think of it, me a writer! He says I'm a young Shakespeare, that I've been lazy and hid my light under a bushel!

If he has ever hidden his light under a bushel, I am not aware of it. I have not observed that he is of the shrinking-violet type …

For all his enormous vanity, it can be said that [James] Boswell hid his true light under a bushel.

[P]rovoked by the hesitancy of a Pennsylvania friend to display his artistic talent, [Ned] Cartledge created this work. […] Cartledge accused him of hiding his light under a bushel and has inscribed the back of his panel: "Modesty is for those without talent."

British soroptimists have hidden their light under a bushel: there's a feeling here that we shouldn't seek publicity because we'd be drawing attention to ourselves.