I grant men the land, the government, the wealth, all the chances. I accept that you have to hold all the cards, since that's the only way you know how to play; but I refuse to swallow your disrespect.
Pierre BeaumarchaisRead
Because you are a great lord, you believe yourself to be a great genius. You took the trouble to be born, but no more.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques the arrogance of those who believe greatness comes solely from their position or birth.
In this quote, Beaumarchais suggests that some individuals, particularly those of high social status, mistakenly equate their birthright with personal genius or merit. He points out that while they may consider themselves exceptional due to their status, their existence alone does not reflect true greatness, which is often earned through effort and character rather than inheritance.
Themes
GreatnessGeniusBirthrightArroganceMerit
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about privilege in modern society.
More from Pierre Beaumarchais
All quotes βWhere love is concerned, too much is not even enough.
Pierre BeaumarchaisRead
I quickly laugh at everything for fear of having to cry.
Pierre BeaumarchaisRead
Drinking when we are not thirsty and making love at all seasons, madam: that is all there is to distinguish us from other animals.
Pierre BeaumarchaisRead
Without the freedom to criticize, there is no true praise.
Pierre BeaumarchaisRead
I hasten to laugh at everything, for fear of being obliged to weep.
Pierre BeaumarchaisRead
Similar quotes
But there comes a moment in everybody's life when he must decide whether he'll live among the human beings or not - a fool among fools or a fool alone.
Thornton WilderRead
A dance is the devil's procession, and he that entereth into a dance, entereth into his possession.
Saint Francis De SalesRead
Whatever else it might be, the divine is certainly the thing that imposes with maximum intensity the sensation of being alive.
Roberto CalassoRead
You're only infallible about your own nervous system. You know what's going on in your own nervous system, whatever realities you're creating out of the infinite flux of being. You don't know anything about anybody else's reality unless they tell you about it. You gotta listen very sympathetically in order to understand them. So it's a limited infallibility.
Robert Anton WilsonRead
Come Judgment Day, we may find that Mumbo Jumbo the God of the Congo was the Big Boss all along.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
No single thing abides; but all things flow. Fragment to fragment clings - the things thus grow Until we know them and name them. By degrees They melt, and are no more the things we know.
LucretiusRead