Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.
In plain words
People become great in different ways. Do not be scared of it happening to you.
Where these words come from
- 90% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
- Twelfth Night, Act 2 Scene 5, read aloud by Malvolio from a forged letter (written by Maria, posing as Olivia) — the line itself is sound, standalone advice about paths to greatness.
- Twelfth Night
- c. 1601 · Malvolio reads aloud from a letter he believes Olivia wrote to him
More from William Shakespeare
See allThere are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
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William ShakespeareThe quality of mercy is not strain'd, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven.William ShakespeareAll the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances.William ShakespeareTo thine own self be true.William ShakespeareGive every man thine ear, but few thy voice.William ShakespeareSweet are the uses of adversity, which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head.William ShakespeareMore on individuality
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
Oscar WildeNot all who wander are lost.
J.R.R. Tolkien'Know thyself' was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, 'Be thyself' shall be written.Oscar WildeWe will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds.
Ralph Waldo EmersonThe imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity.Ralph Waldo EmersonAlways be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
Judy Garland
Oscar WildeNot all who wander are lost.J.R.R. Tolkien'Know thyself' was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, 'Be thyself' shall be written.Oscar WildeWe will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds.Ralph Waldo EmersonThe imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity.Ralph Waldo EmersonAlways be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.Judy Garland