This is one of most abused slogans. Here is my two cents on how to translate slogans:

eric_2003(Wine Expert)

Slogans, especially from communist countries like China or former Soviet Union etc., are meant for brainwashing, and therefore are wielded around as absolutely indisputable truth. It should sound authoritative, thundering, beyond criticism. As matter of fact, those slogans are downright meaningless nonsense. It sounds very funny if you try to find an English equivalent or westernize it. I once westernized “谦虚使人进步，骄傲使人落后” as: A man either thrive in modesty or wither in arrogance. But I completely lost its overwhelming and authoritative effect. Still following me? So, I concluded that the most effective way to translate slogans is… Chinglish ! That is probably why most journalists from Western world are directly quoting Chinglish from China Daily. Such as Mr. Deng’s “Open Door” policy, “Getting Rich is Glorious”… I can almost imagine the old man waving his hand to millions of Chinese… Because they are Chinese unique, full of contemporary Chinese cultural, political and national tempo. Back to your post, how about this: Progress with Modesty; Retrogress with Arrogance !

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Last Updated: 2011-10-16
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还有"臭老九"怎么翻？ -bamboo(茴香·回乡); 2011-10-14 (#6987262@0)

how about the stinky nineth or the stinky educated? -hsl(胡司令); 2011-10-16 {49} (#6989508@0)
u probly need some explanation in the context too

be humble, or you will stumble -win(秋天的菠菜); 2011-10-14 (#6987265@0)

thanks, another one 木秀于林，风必摧之, how to translate. Thanks. -bamboo(茴香·回乡); 2011-10-14 (#6987295@0)

the tallest tree catches most wind -win(秋天的菠菜); 2011-10-14 (#6987299@0)

Thanks! -bamboo(茴香·回乡); 2011-10-14 (#6987345@0)

你不会当真吧, 我忽悠哈 -win(秋天的菠菜); 2011-10-14 (#6987348@0)

this is the best, short with rhyme, sounds very authoritative indeed...Be humble, or you'll stumble! -hsl(胡司令); 2011-10-16 {53} (#6989580@0)
i can imagine myself yelling like a coach or teacher~

soory i should've marked it as zt. no credit taken.... many years ago when i drove by a church and saw the words on its post, it struck me hard and always reember it since -win(秋天的菠菜); 2011-10-16 (#6989597@0)

i expected that. why r u getting nervous? haha -hsl(胡司令); 2011-10-16 (#6990448@0)
Since it is from the Church, I hope I am not hurting anyone. “humble” is not quite accurate. “modest” is more suitable here. -eric_2003(Wine Expert); 2011-10-17 {746} (#6990864@0)
1. Half of the meaning is missing. It does not say what happens if one is humble.

2. There are some subtle differences between “humble” and “modest”. Of course, there is an overlapping area in meaning, but not in our case.

Humble: suggesting low in rank, poor in quality, inferior, low, substandard.
Modest: disinclination to call attention to oneself, more like I am good, but don’t want to talk much or flaunt about it.

In Bible, "humble" is used frequently to call upon Christians or Protestants to lower /debase themselves, attributing all glories to God, for everyone is “sinner”. Jesus Christ showed his humbleness by washing feet of his apostles. That is why you will hear “humble” a lot in Church.

i beg to differ...humble has the same meaning as modest, or not arrogant. i still think this is the best considering the audience (westerners). -hsl(胡司令); 2011-10-17 (#6990937@0)

Well, they are not exactly same. Most of time, they can be used interchangeably. modest = 谦虚; humble = 谦卑; -eric_2003(Wine Expert); 2011-10-19 {430} (#6996430@0)
This example is from English-Chinese Dictionary, Shanghai Publishing House 1985:

谦虚使人进步，骄傲使人落后
Modesty helps one to go forward, whereas conceit makes one lag behind.
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When you are facing a bureaucrat, you want to use “humble”;
When you are facing a top student of yours, you want to use “modest” instead.

我明白其中的细微差别，但是二者主要词义相同（附上dictionary.com的解释），此处通用不会引起歧义；而且humble跟stumble齐韵，琅琅上口印象深刻。 -hsl(胡司令); 2011-10-19 (#6996538@0)

how to translate 大智若愚? Thanks! -bamboo(茴香·回乡); 2011-10-14 (#6987343@0)

NBed feels like SB？。。。 -noproblem(密西洒家。o O); 2011-10-14 (#6987349@0)

so cool that he looks a fool -win(秋天的菠菜); 2011-10-14 (#6987357@0)

I just wanted to popularize Chinglish, you know。。。 -noproblem(密西洒家。o O); 2011-10-14 (#6987370@0)

很经典 -bamboo(茴香·回乡); 2011-10-14 (#6987408@0)
great! -healthy321(领导说:做人要低调.); 2011-10-16 (#6990731@0)

想问一下大家为什么问这些翻译，工作中也用不到呀。 -slowdownforrose(放慢脚步); 2011-10-14 (#6987378@0)

i am not working -bamboo(茴香·回乡); 2011-10-14 (#6987401@0)

看来你加强说话逻辑性比这些习语更紧迫些 -win(秋天的菠菜); 2011-10-14 (#6987405@0)

我。。。。没说什么呀 -bamboo(茴香·回乡); 2011-10-14 (#6987410@0)

就是你的回答跟人问题不搭伽嘛...... 要翻译这些咚咚做肾? -win(秋天的菠菜); 2011-10-14 (#6987412@0)

幽默机智的回答，估计有人没看懂。 -winterstorm(打酱油的); 2011-10-21 (#7003269@0)

我就曾经需要过。翻译一个中国进修官员对培训的评价，当时他用了一句中国俗话，我翻不出来，只好把寓意直说了。但象‘谦虚。。骄傲。。’这些话，根本解释不清楚，文化差异，人不理解。 -besideu(身边一破脑袋); 2011-10-14 (#6987486@0)

现场即兴翻译比俺们在这里随性上贴可难多多啦。。 -hsl(胡司令); 2011-10-16 (#6989510@0)

stay hungry,stay foolish. -newtoronto(一家四口); 2011-10-14 (#6987488@0)

This is one of most abused slogans. Here is my two cents on how to translate slogans: -eric_2003(Wine Expert); 2011-10-16 {1119} (#6989421@0)

很欣赏你写的。how about: modesty moves you forward; arrogance pushes you backward. -hsl(胡司令); 2011-10-16 (#6989503@0)

There you go! That is something from the mouth of a stiff, unsmiling, does-not-know-what-he-is-doing Chinese bureaucrat. -eric_2003(Wine Expert); 2011-10-17 (#6990867@0)

Mark 一下这个 -fly_universe(飞越时空); 2011-10-17 (#6990964@0)

这句话是错的，不必要翻译了。在职场上，没有谦虚这个词，骄傲代表着自信。 -szs11(不器); 2011-10-19 (#6996436@0)

我觉得谦虚是humble, 骄傲是自负 self-righteous -luckymom(五月); 2011-10-21 (#7003212@0)
然。不是每个中文词都有精确的英文对应的。西方人没有中国人那么看中谦虚，所以用来形容谦虚的词汇没有中文那么确定，因 -winterstorm(打酱油的); 2011-10-21 {158} (#7003259@0)
场合而异。西方人更推崇的态度是assertiveness. 现代中文里最接近的表达要用四个字：不卑不亢。古汉语的中庸更简洁xie，不过中庸一词早已被现代中国人曲解，面目全非了。

酱油兄所言很有见地。如果你实在需要用到"谦虚”这个词，请往下看 -heater(美帝苏修); 2011-10-21 {460} (#7004349@0)
“谦虚”，在中文里，我觉得至少有三个意义

1. 虽然你的身份很高（比方说你是省长），但是和别人相处，你没有架子，不认为自己比别人高（或者至少不表现出来）。这种“谦虚”，英文里是humble

2. 虽然你有很大的成就，但在和别人相处的时候，你不去强调，只是说那些成就也算不上什么，是大家的功劳，云云，这个"谦虚”在英文里是modest

3. 你虽然学问很高，但还是经常不耻下问，这种“谦虚”我不知道英文里叫什么。如果一定要在modest或者humble里找一个词，我觉得modest更合适一些。
这位仁兄说的有意思。有些启发性。 -hsl(胡司令); 2011-10-22 (#7007742@0)

@Texas

This is one of most abused slogans. Here is my two cents on how to translate slogans:

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