La Rochefoucauld §laroch_024: When great men permit themselves to be cast down by the continuance of misfor...

When great men permit themselves to be cast down by the continuance of misfortune, they show us that they were only sustained by ambition, and not by their mind; so that PLUS a great vanity, heroes are made like other men. [Both these maxims have been rewritten and made conciser by the author; the variations are not worth quoting.]