---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As it often happens that the best men are…"
description: "\"As it often happens that the best men are but little known, and consequently cannot extend the usefulness of their examples a great way, the biographer..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/henry-fielding-1358_biographers_as-it-often-happens-that-the-best-men-ar_1787094.jpg"
---

#  As it often happens that the best men are but little…

![“As it often happens that the best men are but little known, and consequently cannot extend the usefulness of their examples a great way, the biographer is of great utility, as, by communicating such valuable patterns to the world, he may perhaps do a more extensive service to mankind than the…” quote by Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/henry-fielding-1358_biographers_as-it-often-happens-that-the-best-men-ar_1787094.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/henry-fielding-1358_biographers_as-it-often-happens-that-the-best-men-ar_1787094.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/henry-fielding-1358_biographers_as-it-often-happens-that-the-best-men-ar_1787094.jpg)

> “As it often happens that the best men are but little known, and consequently cannot extend the usefulness of their examples a great way, the biographer is of great utility, as, by communicating such valuable patterns to the world, he may perhaps do a more extensive service to mankind than the person whose life originally afforded the pattern.”

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Biographers spread valuable life patterns, extending their impact beyond the individual's fame.

**In simple terms:** Biographers amplify good examples.

Key Takeaway

Share stories of exemplary lives.

Themes

legacy education influence

Mood

reflective inspirational

Type

educational philosophical

When to use this quote

- teaching
- public speaking
- writing biographies

Key Concepts

biography social utility public good

Questions to Reflect On

- How can we ensure accurate representation?
- What stories inspire you most?

A Different Perspective

Biographies can misinterpret or oversimplify lives.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Patterns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patterns/) [Service to mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/service-to-mankind/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/)

## Related quotes

> [I am well aware that the path of the biographer is beset with pitfalls, and that, for him, suppressio veri is almost necessarily suggestio…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dodgson-collingwood/i-am-well-aware-that-the-path-of-the-biographer-is-beset-with/)

Stuart Dodgson Collingwood

> [The biographer's real business - if it is not too arrogant to say so - is simply this: to bring the dead to life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-origo/the-biographer-s-real-business-if-it-is-not-too-arrogant-to-say-so-is/)

[Iris Origo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-origo/)

> [The biographer who writes the life of his subjects self-concept passes through a fade into the inner house of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-edel/the-biographer-who-writes-the-life-of-his-subjects-self-concept/)

[Leon Edel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-edel/)

> [Eleanor Marx was her father's first biographer. All subsequent biographies of Karl Marx, and most of Engels, draw on her work as their primary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-holmes/eleanor-marx-was-her-father-s-first-biographer-all-subsequent/)

[Rachel Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-holmes/)

> [biography is essentially a collaborative art, the latest biographer collaborating with all those who wrote earlier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/biography-is-essentially-a-collaborative-art-the-latest-biographer/)

[Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/)

> [My life and work have been far from free of blemish, and so I think it would be unpardonable for a biographer not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-styron/my-life-and-work-have-been-far-from-free-of-blemish-and-so-i-think-it/)

[William Styron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-styron/)

> [Every business should have its biographer-not after its head is dead but to show that he's very much alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-pierson/every-business-should-have-its-biographer-not-after-its-head-is-dead/)

[Frank Pierson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-pierson/)

> [while it is certainly the biographer's business to describe the foibles, passions and idiosyncrasies which make his subject a person, his work will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-origo/while-it-is-certainly-the-biographer-s-business-to-describe-the/)

[Iris Origo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-origo/)

> [In Milly Barranger, Margaret Webster has found the perfect biographer. In Margaret Webster, Milly Barranger has found her perfect subject. She brings to vivid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-seldes/in-milly-barranger-margaret-webster-has-found-the-perfect-biographer/)

[Marian Seldes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-seldes/)

> [The facts of life are to the biographer what the text of a novel is to the critic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-glendinning/the-facts-of-life-are-to-the-biographer-what-the-text-of-a-novel-is/)

[Victoria Glendinning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-glendinning/)

> [His Cheek is his Biographer- As long as he can blush.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/his-cheek-is-his-biographer-as-long-as-he-can-blush/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [“For the biographer, the final clue to character lies in the yet unread - the scribbled note, the diary page, a notation in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-furman/for-the-biographer-the-final-clue-to-character-lies-in-the-yet-unread/)

[Laura Furman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-furman/)

> [Ronald Reagan's biographer wrote of the former president's final days: "for all the intimate familiarity of that face and body, I did not feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-morris/ronald-reagan-s-biographer-wrote-of-the-former-president-s-final-days/)

Edwin Morris

> [biography cannot be separated from autobiography: that is, the life written about is inextricably entangled with the life of the biographer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-simon/biography-cannot-be-separated-from-autobiography-that-is-the-life/)

Linda Simon

> [Man you can define; but the true essence of any man, say, for instance, of Abraham Lincoln, remains the endlessly elusive and mysterious object…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josiah-royce/man-you-can-define-but-the-true-essence-of-any-man-say-for-instance/)

[Josiah Royce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josiah-royce/)

## More by Henry Fielding

> [“Though Jones had formerly believed himself in the very prime of youth and vigor, his first encounter with Lady Bellaston both vexed and puzzled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/though-jones-had-formerly-believed-himself-in-the-very-prime-of-youth/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [A good man therefore is a standing lesson to us all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/a-good-man-therefore-is-a-standing-lesson-to-us-all/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [Good-breeding is not confined to externals, much less to any particular dress or attitude of the body; it is the art of pleasing, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/good-breeding-is-not-confined-to-externals-much-less-to-any/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [Adversity is the trial of principle. Without it, a man hardly knows whether he is honest or not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/adversity-is-the-trial-of-principle-without-it-a-man-hardly-knows/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [Sir, money, money, the most charming of all things; money, which will say more in one moment than the most elegant lover can in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/sir-money-money-the-most-charming-of-all-things-money-which-will-say/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [The greatest part of mankind labor under one delirium or another; and Don Quixote differed from the rest, not in madness, but the species…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/the-greatest-part-of-mankind-labor-under-one-delirium-or-another-and/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [Want compassion is not to be numbered among the general faults of mankind. The black ingredient which fouls our disposition is envy. Hence our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/want-compassion-is-not-to-be-numbered-among-the-general-faults-of/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [It is well known to all great men, that by conferring an obligation they do not always procure a friend, but are certain of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/it-is-well-known-to-all-great-men-that-by-conferring-an-obligation/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [One fool at least in every married couple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/one-fool-at-least-in-every-married-couple/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [A lover, when he is admitted to cards, ought to be solemnly silent, and observe the motions of his mistress. He must laugh when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/a-lover-when-he-is-admitted-to-cards-ought-to-be-solemnly-silent-and/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [If you make money your god, it will plague you like the devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/if-you-make-money-your-god-it-will-plague-you-like-the-devil/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [As a conquered rebellion strengthens a government, or as health is more perfectly established by recovery from some diseases; so anger, when removed, often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/as-a-conquered-rebellion-strengthens-a-government-or-as-health-is/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [A wonder lasts but nine days, and then the puppy's eyes are open.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/a-wonder-lasts-but-nine-days-and-then-the-puppy-s-eyes-are-open/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [Custom may lead a man into many errors; but it justifies none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/custom-may-lead-a-man-into-many-errors-but-it-justifies-none/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [A grave aspect to a grave character is of much more consequence than the world is generally aware of; a barber may make you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/a-grave-aspect-to-a-grave-character-is-of-much-more-consequence-than/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

[Explore all 246 Henry Fielding quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

## More Biographers quotes

> [I am well aware that the path of the biographer is beset with pitfalls, and that, for him, suppressio veri is almost necessarily suggestio…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dodgson-collingwood/i-am-well-aware-that-the-path-of-the-biographer-is-beset-with/)

Stuart Dodgson Collingwood

> [biography cannot be separated from autobiography: that is, the life written about is inextricably entangled with the life of the biographer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-simon/biography-cannot-be-separated-from-autobiography-that-is-the-life/)

Linda Simon

> [Biographers know nothing about the intimate sex lives of their own wives, but they think they know all about Stendhal's or Faulkner's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/biographers-know-nothing-about-the-intimate-sex-lives-of-their-own/)

[Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/)

> [Ronald Reagan's biographer wrote of the former president's final days: "for all the intimate familiarity of that face and body, I did not feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-morris/ronald-reagan-s-biographer-wrote-of-the-former-president-s-final-days/)

Edwin Morris

> [“For the biographer, the final clue to character lies in the yet unread - the scribbled note, the diary page, a notation in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-furman/for-the-biographer-the-final-clue-to-character-lies-in-the-yet-unread/)

[Laura Furman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-furman/)

> [Among the sayings and discourses imputed to him (i.e. Jesus) by his biographers, I find many passages of fine imagination, correct morality, and of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/among-the-sayings-and-discourses-imputed-to-him-i-e-jesus-by-his/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

> [Biographers, the quick in pursuit of the dead, research, organize, fill in, contradict, and make in this way a sort of completed picture puzzle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/biographers-the-quick-in-pursuit-of-the-dead-research-organize-fill/)

[Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/)

> [The authorized biographers - the ones hand-picked to write the sanitized version of a subject's life - sit up front with the swells while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-kelley/the-authorized-biographers-the-ones-hand-picked-to-write-the/)

[Kitty Kelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-kelley/)

> ["I want to be always happy," Maxine Hong Kingston announces . But, as this interview makes clear, for me, it was the desire to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/i-want-to-be-always-happy-maxine-hong-kingston-announces-but-as-this/)

[Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/)

> [ If we believe that he \[Jesus Christ\]really countenanced the follies, the falsehoods, and the charlatanisms, which his biographers \[writers of the New Testament\]father upon… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/if-we-believe-that-he-jesus-christ-really-countenanced-the-follies/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

> [His Cheek is his Biographer- As long as he can blush.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/his-cheek-is-his-biographer-as-long-as-he-can-blush/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [Authorised royal biographers are so straitjacketed, deferential, fawning, and unadventurous that they can only be after a knighthood. Or they're completely scurrilous and insolent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morgan/authorised-royal-biographers-are-so-straitjacketed-deferential/)

[Peter Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morgan/)

> [Boswell is the first of biographers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/boswell-is-the-first-of-biographers/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Let us have our heroes. Let us continue to believe that some have been truly great; that it lies within human ability to overcome…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-baines-johnson/let-us-have-our-heroes-let-us-continue-to-believe-that-some-have-been/)

[Lyndon Baines Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-baines-johnson/)

> [“Biographers are not usually as explicit as philosophers such as Plato, Wittgenstein, Austin, or Moore on questions of the existence of an essential self,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermione-lee/biographers-are-not-usually-as-explicit-as-philosophers-such-as-plato/)

[Hermione Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermione-lee/)

Browse all 74 Biographers quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "As it often happens that the best men are but little known, and consequently cannot extend the usefulness of their examples a great way, the biographer is of great utility, as, by communicating such valuable patterns to the world, he may perhaps do a more extensive service to mankind than the person whose life originally afforded the pattern.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Henry Fielding"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/as-it-often-happens-that-the-best-men-are-but-little-known-and/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Biographers"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/as-it-often-happens-that-the-best-men-are-but-little-known-and/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/henry-fielding-1358_biographers_as-it-often-happens-that-the-best-men-ar_1787094.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/henry-fielding-1358_biographers_as-it-often-happens-that-the-best-men-ar_1787094.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/henry-fielding-1358_biographers_as-it-often-happens-that-the-best-men-ar_1787094.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“As it often happens that the best men are but little known, and consequently cannot extend the usefulness of…” — Henry Fielding",
                "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": "Henry Fielding",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "As it often happens that the...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/as-it-often-happens-that-the-best-men-are-but-little-known-and/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/as-it-often-happens-that-the-best-men-are-but-little-known-and/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```