One of the maspidim of HaGaon Rav Moshe Schapiro ztz"l related about the Chazon Ish, that when the subject of kavod came up, he said "בחנות שלי הכבוד לא נמצא" - In my "store", kavod doesn't exist. It isn't that he "ran away" from kavod. It wasn't even an issue.
The gemara talks about being a "baki bi-chadrei Torah" - An expert in the "rooms" of Torah. What are these "rooms"? Torah is filled with pnimiyus. If one is seeking the pnimiyus of Torah, kavod has no place.
So was the Chazon Ish.
And so was R' Moshe.
זכותם יגן עלינו ועל כל ישראל.
