Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.
In plain words
People become great in different ways. Do not be scared of it happening to you.
Where these words come from
- 90% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
- Twelfth Night, Act 2 Scene 5, read aloud by Malvolio from a forged letter (written by Maria, posing as Olivia) — the line itself is sound, standalone advice about paths to greatness.
- Twelfth Night
- c. 1601 · Malvolio reads aloud from a letter he believes Olivia wrote to him
