Now, I didn’t have to say that ... if you ask me, it showed a lot of humility on my part to say a thing like that when, after all, I have got a career of my own to consider...
A....I said that at the cost of my own reputation...
B....I wouldn’t have said that if I had thought for myself...
C....only a modest person like me could say something like that...
D....as a person with self-respect, I wouldn’t say that kind of thing...