36. NOTORIETY AND FAME AND GREATNESS

Do not confuse notoriety and fame with greatness. Many of the titled in today's world obtained their fame and fortune outside their own merit. On the other hand, you must have met great people, in the most obscure roles, in life. For you see, greatness is a measure of one's spirit, not a result of one's rank in human affairs. Nobody, least of all mere humans, confers greatness upon another, for it is not a prize but an achievement. And greatness can crown the head of a janitor just as readily as it can come to someone of high rank.