--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A great man shows his greatness,” said…" description: "\"“A great man shows his greatness,” said Carlyle, “by the way he treats little men.”\" — Anonymous" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/anonymous-1_carlyle_a-great-man-shows-his-greatness-said-car_471055.jpg" --- # A great man shows his greatness,” said Carlyle, “by the… ![“A great man shows his greatness,” said Carlyle, “by the way he treats little men.” quote by Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/anonymous-1_carlyle_a-great-man-shows-his-greatness-said-car_471055.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/anonymous-1_carlyle_a-great-man-shows-his-greatness-said-car_471055.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/anonymous-1_carlyle_a-great-man-shows-his-greatness-said-car_471055.jpg) > ““A great man shows his greatness,” said Carlyle, “by the way he treats little men.”” [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Greatness is measured by how one treats those of lower status. **In simple terms:** Treat everyone with respect. Key Takeaway Judge character by treatment of others. Themes humility leadership equality respect character Mood inspirational reflective Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - workplace - community service - education - family life Key Concepts Moral philosophy social hierarchy ethical leadership Questions to Reflect On - How do you assess true greatness? - What actions show respect for all? A Different Perspective Power dynamics can obscure true character. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carlyle/) [Great man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-man/) [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) ## Related quotes > [“A great man shows his greatness by the way he treats little me”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-great-man-shows-his-greatness-by-the-way-he-treats-little-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“And what comes next,' he asked. She smiled. 'Greatness,' she said, pulling him in for another kiss.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-j-torrington/and-what-comes-next-he-asked-she-smiled-greatness-she-said-pulling/) Thomas J. Torrington > [A great man shows his greatness by the way he treats little men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/a-great-man-shows-his-greatness-by-the-way-he-treats-little-men/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [When you are destined for greatness, it shows in everything you do. It becomes you. Greatness becomes you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/when-you-are-destined-for-greatness-it-shows-in-everything-you-do-it/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [He who has never failed somewhere, that man can notbe great. Failure is the true test of greatness. And if it be said, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/he-who-has-never-failed-somewhere-that-man-can-notbe-great-failure-is/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“All my life I have refused to be for or against parties, for or against nations, for or against people. I never seek novelty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/all-my-life-i-have-refused-to-be-for-or-against-parties-for-or/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [“Emerson loved the good and his life was a symphony of peace and harmony, Carlyle hated the bad, and his life was a record…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/emerson-loved-the-good-and-his-life-was-a-symphony-of-peace-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Mr. Rubenstein says he likes to apply the “mother standard” to giving. “When I built Carlyle, my mother didn’t call to say, ‘I’m so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/mr-rubenstein-says-he-likes-to-apply-the-mother-standard-to-giving/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A great man isn't the one who can show all his greatness, but great man is the one who can show his Humility upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-great-man-isn-t-the-one-who-can-show-all-his-greatness-but-great/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Carlyle, a man of strong words and attitudes, a rhetorician out of necessity, constantly aroused by the craving for a strong faithas well as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/carlyle-a-man-of-strong-words-and-attitudes-a-rhetorician-out-of/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [IT is reported of Margaret Fuller that she said she accepted the universe. "Gad, she'd better!" retorted Carlyle. Carlyle himself did not accept the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/it-is-reported-of-margaret-fuller-that-she-said-she-accepted-the/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [“My books are friends that never fail me." ( Letter to his mother, Margaret A. Carlyle ; 17 March 1817)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/my-books-are-friends-that-never-fail-me-letter-to-his-mother-margaret/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [“privately he composed—in French—a poem expressing his pleasure at having given the French a kick in the cul, which Carlyle delicately translated as “the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/privately-he-composed-in-french-a-poem-expressing-his-pleasure-at/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [Carlyle said 'a lie cannot live.' It shows that he did not know how to tell them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/carlyle-said-a-lie-cannot-live-it-shows-that-he-did-not-know-how-to/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Popular opinion is oftenest, what Carlyle pronounced it to be, a lie!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/popular-opinion-is-oftenest-what-carlyle-pronounced-it-to-be-a-lie/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) ## More by Anonymous > [And a tear rolled down her cheek, as she said goodbye; because she's walking away, and she's never looking back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-a-tear-rolled-down-her-cheek-as-she-said-goodbye-because-she-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/scrabble-the-game-is-available-in-braille-that-s-a-nice-fact-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everyone needs someone to love, and I choose you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everyone-needs-someone-to-love-and-i-choose-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Put on my J's and dance the whole night away Im naughty by nature like Im hip-hop hooray With my hands in the sky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/put-on-my-j-s-and-dance-the-whole-night-away-im-naughty-by-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Me.. I have been through a lot, but I still manage to have a smile on my face. Im not worried about the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/me-i-have-been-through-a-lot-but-i-still-manage-to-have-a-smile-on-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Distance is a test of love. many will fail for those who can't withstand it, but for those who can, theres only one answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/distance-is-a-test-of-love-many-will-fail-for-those-who-can-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Im sorry I ever tried...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-sorry-i-ever-tried/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Being betrayed by the one you love is the worst feeling in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-betrayed-by-the-one-you-love-is-the-worst-feeling-in-the-world/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The only person I've ever purposely caused pain here is myself...By simply sharing, caring too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-person-i-ve-ever-purposely-caused-pain-here-is-myself-by/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Start a business, not a startup”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/start-a-business-not-a-startup/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Explore all 162,899 Anonymous quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More Carlyle quotes > [Carlyle said 'a lie cannot live.' It shows that he did not know how to tell them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/carlyle-said-a-lie-cannot-live-it-shows-that-he-did-not-know-how-to/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Emerson loved the good and his life was a symphony of peace and harmony, Carlyle hated the bad, and his life was a record…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/emerson-loved-the-good-and-his-life-was-a-symphony-of-peace-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“privately he composed—in French—a poem expressing his pleasure at having given the French a kick in the cul, which Carlyle delicately translated as “the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/privately-he-composed-in-french-a-poem-expressing-his-pleasure-at/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [“My books are friends that never fail me." ( Letter to his mother, Margaret A. Carlyle ; 17 March 1817)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/my-books-are-friends-that-never-fail-me-letter-to-his-mother-margaret/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [IT is reported of Margaret Fuller that she said she accepted the universe. "Gad, she'd better!" retorted Carlyle. Carlyle himself did not accept the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/it-is-reported-of-margaret-fuller-that-she-said-she-accepted-the/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [Popular opinion is oftenest, what Carlyle pronounced it to be, a lie!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/popular-opinion-is-oftenest-what-carlyle-pronounced-it-to-be-a-lie/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Carlyle, a man of strong words and attitudes, a rhetorician out of necessity, constantly aroused by the craving for a strong faithas well as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/carlyle-a-man-of-strong-words-and-attitudes-a-rhetorician-out-of/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Mr. Rubenstein says he likes to apply the “mother standard” to giving. “When I built Carlyle, my mother didn’t call to say, ‘I’m so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/mr-rubenstein-says-he-likes-to-apply-the-mother-standard-to-giving/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none. —historian and essayist Thomas Carlyle”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-tavris/the-greatest-of-faults-i-should-say-is-to-be-conscious-of-none/) [Carol Tavris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-tavris/) > [“In employing the long sentence the inexperienced writer should not strain after the heavy, ponderous type. Johnson and Carlyle used such a type, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-devlin/in-employing-the-long-sentence-the-inexperienced-writer-should-not/) [Joseph Devlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-devlin/) > [“Carlyle had no option but to sit down and recompose the book as best he could—a task made all the more challenging by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/carlyle-had-no-option-but-to-sit-down-and-recompose-the-book-as-best/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Carlyle: a passionate outpouring of words recommending silence and self-control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/carlyle-a-passionate-outpouring-of-words-recommending-silence-and/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [“Under all speech that is good for anything there lies a silence that is better.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/under-all-speech-that-is-good-for-anything-there-lies-a-silence-that-2/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [It is curious for one who studies the action and reaction of national literature on each other, to see the humor of Swift and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/it-is-curious-for-one-who-studies-the-action-and-reaction-of-national/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [Carlyle uttered a pregnant truth when he said that the history of any country is in the biographies of the men who made it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-dickson-white/carlyle-uttered-a-pregnant-truth-when-he-said-that-the-history-of-any/) [Andrew Dickson White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-dickson-white/) [Browse all 34 Carlyle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carlyle/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A great man shows his greatness,” said Carlyle, “by the way he treats little men.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anonymous" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-great-man-shows-his-greatness-said-carlyle-by-the-way-he-treats/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Carlyle" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-great-man-shows-his-greatness-said-carlyle-by-the-way-he-treats/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/anonymous-1_carlyle_a-great-man-shows-his-greatness-said-car_471055.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/anonymous-1_carlyle_a-great-man-shows-his-greatness-said-car_471055.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/anonymous-1_carlyle_a-great-man-shows-his-greatness-said-car_471055.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A great man shows his greatness,” said Carlyle, “by the way he treats little men.” — Anonymous", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Anonymous", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“A great man shows his greatness,”...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-great-man-shows-his-greatness-said-carlyle-by-the-way-he-treats/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-great-man-shows-his-greatness-said-carlyle-by-the-way-he-treats/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```