“How true it is that some have greatness thrust upon them! - and you may be quite sure that it was none of my seeking.”
Of his knighthood; p. 18
M. N. Cohen & E. Wakeling, Lewis Carroll and his Illustrators (2003)
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John Tenniel5
British illustrator, graphic humourist and political cartoo… 1820–1914Related quotes
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.”
William Shakespeare Twelfth Night
Malvolio, Act II, scene v.
Variant: Some are born great, others achieve greatness.
Source: Twelfth Night (1601)
“Some are born weird, some achieve it, others have weirdness thrust upon them.”
Dick Francis (1920–2010) English jockey and crime writer
Source: To the Hilt (1996)
“Some men are born sodomites, some achieve sodomy, and some have sodomy thrust upon them…”
Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) poet, mountaineer, occultist
Source: The Scented Garden Of Abdullah The Satirist Of Shiraz
Joseph Heller book Catch-22
Variant: Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity trust upon them.
Source: Catch-22 (1961)
Context: Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them. With Major Major it had been all three.
“Regulation may be actively sought by an industry, or it may be thrust upon it.”
George Stigler (1911–1991) American economist
Source: "The theory of economic regulation," 1971, p. 3
Context: Regulation may be actively sought by an industry, or it may be thrust upon it. A central thesis of this paper is that, as a rule, regulation is acquired by the industry and is designed and operated primarily for its benefit. There are regulations whose net effects upon the regulated industry are undeniably onerous; a simple example is the differentially heavy taxation of the industry's product (whiskey, playing cards). These onerous regulations, however, are exceptional and can be explained by the same theory that explains beneficial (we may call it "acquired") regulation.
William Hope Hodgson book The Night Land
Source: The Night Land (1912), Chapter 7
“Some are born crazy,” Amelia said. “Some achieve craziness. We had craziness thrust upon us.”
Joe Haldeman book Forever Peace
Source: Forever Peace (1997), p. 249
