“Great souls are always loyally submissive, reverent to what is over them.”
1840s, Heroes and Hero-Worship (1840), The Hero as Man of Letters
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Thomas Carlyle 481
Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian… 1795–1881Related quotes
1850s, Latter-Day Pamphlets (1850), The Present Time (February 1, 1850)
“Reverence for greatness dies out, and is succeeded by base envy of greatness.”
Source: Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (1871), Ch. III : The Master, p. 67
Context: Reverence for greatness dies out, and is succeeded by base envy of greatness. Every man is in the way of many, either in the path to popularity or wealth. There is a general feeling of satisfaction when a great statesman is displaced, or a general, who has been for his brief hour the popular idol, is unfortunate and sinks from his high estate. It becomes a misfortune, if not a crime, to be above the popular level.
We should naturally suppose that a nation in distress would take counsel with the wisest of its sons. But, on the contrary, great men seem never so scarce as when they are most needed, and small men never so bold to insist on infesting place, as when mediocrity and incapable pretence and sophomoric greenness, and showy and sprightly incompetency are most dangerous.
Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks (posthumous)
“It's the soul's duty to be loyal to its own desires. It must abandon itself to its master passion.”
“A loving soul was always more beautiful over the long haul, but actual prettiness was fleeting.”
Source: My Name Is Memory
“All great thinkers are initially ridiculed – and eventually revered.”