--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is a note Of upstart greatness to…" description: "\"It is a note Of upstart greatness to observe and watch For these poor trifles, which the noble mind Neglects and scorns.\" — Ben Jonson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/ben-jonson-1371_greatness_it-is-a-note-of-upstart-greatness-to-obs_294790.png" --- # It is a note Of upstart greatness to observe and watch For… ![“It is a note Of upstart greatness to observe and watch For these poor trifles, which the noble mind Neglects and scorns.” quote by Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/ben-jonson-1371_greatness_it-is-a-note-of-upstart-greatness-to-obs_294790.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/ben-jonson-1371_greatness_it-is-a-note-of-upstart-greatness-to-obs_294790.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/ben-jonson-1371_greatness_it-is-a-note-of-upstart-greatness-to-obs_294790.png) > “It is a note Of upstart greatness to observe and watch For these poor trifles, which the noble mind Neglects and scorns.” [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The noble mind dismisses trivial matters, focusing on higher pursuits. **In simple terms:** Great minds ignore petty concerns. Key Takeaway Focus on what matters. Themes philosophy focus values Mood analytical reflective Type literary advice When to use this quote - academic research - creative projects - political debate Key Concepts distraction avoidance prioritization intellectual growth Questions to Reflect On - Which small details deserve attention? - When can ignoring minutiae be risky? A Different Perspective Trivial issues sometimes hold hidden importance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Neglect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neglect/) [Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noble/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Trifles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trifles/) [Upstart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/upstart/) ## Related quotes > [Upstart greatness is everywhere less respected than ancient greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/upstart-greatness-is-everywhere-less-respected-than-ancient-greatness/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) > [The popular mythology of creative genius depends on beloved stereotypes of the artist in youth and old age: the misunderstood upstart who forces us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-filler/the-popular-mythology-of-creative-genius-depends-on-beloved/) [Martin Filler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-filler/) > [Liberalism is the party of upstarts who have insinuated themselves between the people and its big men. Liberals feel themselves as isolated individuals, responsible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-moeller-van-den-bruck/liberalism-is-the-party-of-upstarts-who-have-insinuated-themselves/) Arthur Moeller van den Bruck > [The challenge for me was not just the prosthetic work and how to move like an older man would move, but more so how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/the-challenge-for-me-was-not-just-the-prosthetic-work-and-how-to-move/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) > [I'm afraid not." Hades sighed. "My son here convinced me that perhaps I should prioritize my list of enemies." He glared at me with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/i-m-afraid-not-hades-sighed-my-son-here-convinced-me-that-perhaps-i/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [Jean Jacques Rousseauis nothing but a fool in my eyes when he takes it upon himself to criticise society; he did not understand it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/jean-jacques-rousseauis-nothing-but-a-fool-in-my-eyes-when-he-takes/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [I want to be in an industry where the upstarts can grow and displace the incumbents, because that's why there's so much innovation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-ohanian/i-want-to-be-in-an-industry-where-the-upstarts-can-grow-and-displace/) [Alexis Ohanian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-ohanian/) > [“For by the word upstart I mean everyone who has raised himself through his own efforts to a social level higher than that to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/for-by-the-word-upstart-i-mean-everyone-who-has-raised-himself/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [From nobody to upstart. From upstart to contender. From contender to winner. From winner to champion. From champion to Dynasty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-riley/from-nobody-to-upstart-from-upstart-to-contender-from-contender-to/) [Pat Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-riley/) > [English, as a subject, never really got over its upstart nature. It tries to bulk itself up with hopeless jargon and specious complexity, tries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/english-as-a-subject-never-really-got-over-its-upstart-nature-it/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [Shunning the upstart shower, / The cold and cursory scrub, / I celebrate the power / That lies within the Tub.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-mcginley/shunning-the-upstart-shower-the-cold-and-cursory-scrub-i-celebrate/) [Phyllis McGinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-mcginley/) > [It is contended that those who have been bred at Eton, Harrow, Rugby, and Westminster, that the public sentiment within each of those schools…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/it-is-contended-that-those-who-have-been-bred-at-eton-harrow-rugby/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A competitive threat is not the same thing as an antitrust violation… It is difficult to make out FairSearch’s precise antitrust arguments. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-gallagher/a-competitive-threat-is-not-the-same-thing-as-an-antitrust-violation/) [Peter Gallagher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-gallagher/) > [Writing is for men who can think and feel, not mindless sensation seekers out of nightclubs and bars. But these are bad times. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naguib-mahfouz/writing-is-for-men-who-can-think-and-feel-not-mindless-sensation/) [Naguib Mahfouz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naguib-mahfouz/) > [In a certain reign there was a lady not of the first rank whom the emperor loved more than any of the others. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/in-a-certain-reign-there-was-a-lady-not-of-the-first-rank-whom-the/) [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) ## More by Ben Jonson > [Soul of the Age! The applause! delight! the wonder of our stage! My Shakespeare, rise; I will not lodge thee by Chaucer, or Spenser,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/soul-of-the-age-the-applause-delight-the-wonder-of-our-stage-my/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Ambition, like a torrent, never looks back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/ambition-like-a-torrent-never-looks-back/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Heaven prepares good men with crosses; but no ill can happen to a good man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/heaven-prepares-good-men-with-crosses-but-no-ill-can-happen-to-a-good/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [The dignity of truth is lost with much protesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/the-dignity-of-truth-is-lost-with-much-protesting/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [True melancholy breeds your perfect fine wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/true-melancholy-breeds-your-perfect-fine-wit/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Leave a kiss but in the cup, and I'll not look for wine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/leave-a-kiss-but-in-the-cup-and-i-ll-not-look-for-wine/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [All discourses but my own afflict me; they seem harsh, impertinent, and irksome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/all-discourses-but-my-own-afflict-me-they-seem-harsh-impertinent-and/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [“drink to the cause, and pure vapours”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/drink-to-the-cause-and-pure-vapours/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Spread yourself upon his bosom publicly, whose heart you would eat in private.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/spread-yourself-upon-his-bosom-publicly-whose-heart-you-would-eat-in/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [That old bald cheater, Time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/that-old-bald-cheater-time/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Rich apparel has strange virtues; it makes him that hath it without means esteemed for an excellent wit; he that enjoys it with means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/rich-apparel-has-strange-virtues-it-makes-him-that-hath-it-without/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Each petty hand Can steer a ship becalm'd; but he that will Govern and carry her to her ends, must know His tides, his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/each-petty-hand-can-steer-a-ship-becalm-d-but-he-that-will-govern-and/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [The way to rise is to obey and please.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/the-way-to-rise-is-to-obey-and-please/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [The covetous man never has money. The prodigal will have none shortly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/the-covetous-man-never-has-money-the-prodigal-will-have-none-shortly/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Fortune, that favors fools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/fortune-that-favors-fools/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) [Explore all 249 Ben Jonson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) ## More Greatness quotes > [The man who can master his time can master nearly anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-man-who-can-master-his-time-can-master-nearly-anything/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Every man who is high up likes to think that he has done it all himself, and the wife smiles and lets it go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-man-who-is-high-up-likes-to-think-that-he-has-done-it-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“You are destiny for greatness. Your future is in the hands of the Lord.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/you-are-destiny-for-greatness-your-future-is-in-the-hands-of-the-lord/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/we-need-to-discover-all-over-again-that-worship-is-natural-to-the/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/nothing-brings-out-the-lower-traits-of-human-nature-like-office/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [Men generally decide upon a middle course, which is most hazardous, for they know neither how to be entirely good nor entirely bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/men-generally-decide-upon-a-middle-course-which-is-most-hazardous-for/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Every man remembers his childhood as a kind of mythical age, just as every nation's childhood is its mythical age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/every-man-remembers-his-childhood-as-a-kind-of-mythical-age-just-as/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [Greatness is not guarding yourself from people. Greatness is being accepted by the people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/greatness-is-not-guarding-yourself-from-people-greatness-is-being/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [The superior man is distressed by his want (lack) of ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/the-superior-man-is-distressed-by-his-want-lack-of-ability/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Great men don't 'move to the center' - great men move the center!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/great-men-don-t-move-to-the-center-great-men-move-the-center/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Perfection is the enemy of greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/perfection-is-the-enemy-of-greatness/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [Men want a challenge, but they want a challenge they can win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-gaskell/men-want-a-challenge-but-they-want-a-challenge-they-can-win/) Whitney Gaskell [Browse all 7,631 Greatness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is a note Of upstart greatness to observe and watch For these poor trifles, which the noble mind Neglects and scorns.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ben Jonson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/it-is-a-note-of-upstart-greatness-to-observe-and-watch-for-these-poor/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Greatness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/it-is-a-note-of-upstart-greatness-to-observe-and-watch-for-these-poor/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/ben-jonson-1371_greatness_it-is-a-note-of-upstart-greatness-to-obs_294790.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/ben-jonson-1371_greatness_it-is-a-note-of-upstart-greatness-to-obs_294790.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/ben-jonson-1371_greatness_it-is-a-note-of-upstart-greatness-to-obs_294790.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is a note Of upstart greatness to observe and watch For these poor trifles, which the noble mind Neglects…” — Ben Jonson", "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": "Ben Jonson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is a note Of upstart...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/it-is-a-note-of-upstart-greatness-to-observe-and-watch-for-these-poor/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/it-is-a-note-of-upstart-greatness-to-observe-and-watch-for-these-poor/#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 } } ] } ```