--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...greatness sympathises with greatness…" description: "\"...greatness sympathises with greatness, and littleness shrinks into itself.\" — William Hazlitt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98f/william-hazlitt-326_dignity_greatness-sympathises-with-greatness-and_664208.png" --- # ...greatness sympathises with greatness, and littleness… ![“...greatness sympathises with greatness, and littleness shrinks into itself.” quote by William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98f/william-hazlitt-326_dignity_greatness-sympathises-with-greatness-and_664208.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98f/william-hazlitt-326_dignity_greatness-sympathises-with-greatness-and_664208.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98f/william-hazlitt-326_dignity_greatness-sympathises-with-greatness-and_664208.png) > “...greatness sympathises with greatness, and littleness shrinks into itself.” [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Greatness attracts greatness, while smallness retreats into itself. **In simple terms:** Great people draw other great people; small people withdraw. Key Takeaway Seek out and support ambitious peers. Themes ambition confidence community Mood inspirational analytical Type philosophical encouraging When to use this quote - leadership - team building - creative collaborations Key Concepts self‑esteem social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How can you encourage the modest? - What environments foster greatness? A Different Perspective Smallness can be a protective response. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dignity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dignity/) [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Littleness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littleness/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Shrinks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shrinks/) ## Related quotes > [“So does a whole world, with all of its greatness and littleness, lie in a twinkling star.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/so-does-a-whole-world-with-all-of-its-greatness-and-littleness-lie-in/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Envy is a littleness of soul, which cannot see beyond a certain point, and if it does not occupy the whole space feels itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/envy-is-a-littleness-of-soul-which-cannot-see-beyond-a-certain-point/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Envy is littleness of soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/envy-is-littleness-of-soul/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Lo, what huge heaps of littleness around!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/lo-what-huge-heaps-of-littleness-around/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [“The theology of littleness is a basic category of Christianity. After all, the tenor of our faith is that God's distinctive greatness is revealed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-cardinal-ratzinger-pope-benedict/the-theology-of-littleness-is-a-basic-category-of-christianity-after/) Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict > [When a man realizes his littleness, his greatness can appear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/when-a-man-realizes-his-littleness-his-greatness-can-appear/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [We can easily forgive want of means; but littleness, with means, is disgusting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-therese-de-marguenat-de-courcelles/we-can-easily-forgive-want-of-means-but-littleness-with-means-is/) [Anne-Therese de Marguenat de Courcelles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-therese-de-marguenat-de-courcelles/) > [It is but the littleness of man that seeth no greatness in trifles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/it-is-but-the-littleness-of-man-that-seeth-no-greatness-in-trifles/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Dont let the littleness in others bring out the littleness in you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jreyes/dont-let-the-littleness-in-others-bring-out-the-littleness-in-you/) JREYES > [All finery is a sign of littleness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/all-finery-is-a-sign-of-littleness/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [He who stays not in his littleness, loses his greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-francis-de-sales/he-who-stays-not-in-his-littleness-loses-his-greatness/) [Saint Francis de Sales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-francis-de-sales/) > [“However...who said that thing about "the littleness of life that art exaggerates"?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barnes-flaubert/however-who-said-that-thing-about-the-littleness-of-life-that-art/) Barnes Flaubert > [Those who cannot feel the littleness of great things in themselves are apt to overlook the greatness of little things in others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/okakura-kakuzo/those-who-cannot-feel-the-littleness-of-great-things-in-themselves/) [Okakura Kakuzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/okakura-kakuzo/) > [What I absorbed from autobiographies was not how to be great so much as the littleness of the great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-franklin/what-i-absorbed-from-autobiographies-was-not-how-to-be-great-so-much/) [Miles Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-franklin/) > [Greatness is one of the sensations of littleness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/greatness-is-one-of-the-sensations-of-littleness/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## More by William Hazlitt > [First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not infrequently) to our cost, when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/first-impressions-are-often-the-truest-as-we-find-not-infrequently-to/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-art-of-life-is-to-know-how-to-enjoy-a-little-and-to-endure-very/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [We are thankful for good-will rather than for services, for the motive than the quantum of favor received.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/we-are-thankful-for-good-will-rather-than-for-services-for-the-motive/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The discussing the characters and foibles of common friends is a great sweetness and cement of friendship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-discussing-the-characters-and-foibles-of-common-friends-is-a/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Want of principle is power. Truth and honesty set a limit to our efforts, which impudence and hypocrisy easily overleap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/want-of-principle-is-power-truth-and-honesty-set-a-limit-to-our/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Repose is as necessary in conversation as in a picture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/repose-is-as-necessary-in-conversation-as-in-a-picture/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [No act terminating in itself constitutes greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/no-act-terminating-in-itself-constitutes-greatness/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Vice is man's nature: virtue is a habit--or a mask.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/vice-is-man-s-nature-virtue-is-a-habit-or-a-mask/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [We never do anything well till we cease to think about the manner doing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/we-never-do-anything-well-till-we-cease-to-think-about-the-manner/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/man-is-the-only-animal-that-laughs-and-weeps-for-he-is-the-only/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Those who have had none of the cares of this life to harass and disturb them, have been obliged to have recourse to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/those-who-have-had-none-of-the-cares-of-this-life-to-harass-and/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Poverty, when it is voluntary, is never despicable, but takes an heroical aspect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/poverty-when-it-is-voluntary-is-never-despicable-but-takes-an/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [We are not satisfied to be right, unless we can prove others to be quite wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/we-are-not-satisfied-to-be-right-unless-we-can-prove-others-to-be/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The world judge of men by their ability in their profession, and we judge of ourselves by the same test: for it is on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-world-judge-of-men-by-their-ability-in-their-profession-and-we/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The best part of our lives we pass in counting on what is to come.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-best-part-of-our-lives-we-pass-in-counting-on-what-is-to-come/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) [Explore all 671 William Hazlitt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) ## More Dignity quotes > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [I take the responsibility of playing another ethnicity very, very seriously, and I promise myself and those people that I will represent them with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cliff-curtis/i-take-the-responsibility-of-playing-another-ethnicity-very-very/) [Cliff Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cliff-curtis/) > [One achieves true human dignity only when one serves. 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Use them after your own honor and dignity, the less they deserve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/use-every-man-according-to-his-desert-and-who-should-scape-whipping/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I started with the belief that every person who came to the laboratory was free to accept or to reject the dictates of authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-milgram/i-started-with-the-belief-that-every-person-who-came-to-the/) [Stanley Milgram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-milgram/) > [The dignity of man is in free choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-frisch/the-dignity-of-man-is-in-free-choice/) [Max Frisch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-frisch/) > [One of the things I love about Africa is the amount of dignity and respect and humility you see all the time. You don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-scott/one-of-the-things-i-love-about-africa-is-the-amount-of-dignity-and/) [Jill Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-scott/) > [It is well for a man when he has learned to endure what he cannot change, and to give up with dignity what he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/it-is-well-for-a-man-when-he-has-learned-to-endure-what-he-cannot/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [Daily contact with some teachers is itself all-sided ethical education for the child without a spoken precept. Here, too, the real advantage of male…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-stanley-hall/daily-contact-with-some-teachers-is-itself-all-sided-ethical/) [G. Stanley Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-stanley-hall/) > [A man, as a man, could arrive at all the dignity that a man was capable of obtaining or receiving; but it needed a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor/a-man-as-a-man-could-arrive-at-all-the-dignity-that-a-man-was-capable/) [John Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor/) > [There is something to be said for anyone who sits alone with dignity and silently begs for God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/there-is-something-to-be-said-for-anyone-who-sits-alone-with-dignity/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [I just remember that disturbing feeling of walking into that prison, the complete loss of privacy, the complete loss of stimulation, dignity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cybill-shepherd/i-just-remember-that-disturbing-feeling-of-walking-into-that-prison/) [Cybill Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cybill-shepherd/) > [Henry Kissinger may have wished I had presented him as a combination of Charles DeGaulle and Disraeli, but I didn't…out of respect for DeGaulle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/henry-kissinger-may-have-wished-i-had-presented-him-as-a-combination/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [The dignity of a woman's life is infinite, her status immeasurable, her capacity unbounded, her role divine...In the fast changing world of today her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/the-dignity-of-a-woman-s-life-is-infinite-her-status-immeasurable-her/) [Maharishi Mahesh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/) [Browse all 3,116 Dignity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dignity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "...greatness sympathises with greatness, and littleness shrinks into itself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Hazlitt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/greatness-sympathises-with-greatness-and-littleness-shrinks-into/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dignity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/greatness-sympathises-with-greatness-and-littleness-shrinks-into/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98f/william-hazlitt-326_dignity_greatness-sympathises-with-greatness-and_664208.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98f/william-hazlitt-326_dignity_greatness-sympathises-with-greatness-and_664208.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98f/william-hazlitt-326_dignity_greatness-sympathises-with-greatness-and_664208.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“...greatness sympathises with greatness, and littleness shrinks into itself.” — William Hazlitt", "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": "William Hazlitt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "...greatness sympathises with greatness, and littleness...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/greatness-sympathises-with-greatness-and-littleness-shrinks-into/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/greatness-sympathises-with-greatness-and-littleness-shrinks-into/#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 } } ] } ```