He is a great man who uses earthenware dishes as if they were silver; but he is equally great who uses silver as if it were earthenware.
In plain words
A truly great person acts the same whether they have a little or a lot.
Where these words come from
- 90% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
- Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 5 'On the Philosopher's Mean' (c. 63-65 CE), Gummere translation (Loeb Classical Library, 1917), Wikisource text.
- Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 5
- c. 65 CE · Rome · philosophical letter to Lucilius
More from Seneca
See allFor sometimes it is an act of bravery even to live.
SenecaAll art is but imitation of nature.SenecaIt is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.SenecaMen learn while they teach.SenecaIt is equally faulty to trust everyone and to trust no one.SenecaNo good thing is pleasant to possess, without friends to share it.Seneca
SenecaAll art is but imitation of nature.SenecaIt is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.SenecaMen learn while they teach.SenecaIt is equally faulty to trust everyone and to trust no one.SenecaNo good thing is pleasant to possess, without friends to share it.SenecaMore 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