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Home  »  Familiar Quotations  »  8916 Plutarh AD 46?-AD 120 John Bartlett

John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.

8916 Plutarh AD 46?-AD 120 John Bartlett

 
NUMBER:8916
AUTHOR:Plutarch (A.D. 46?–A.D. c. 120)
QUOTATION:When Hermodotus in his poems described Antigonus as the son of Helios, “My valet-de-chambre,” said he, “is not aware of this.” 1
ATTRIBUTION:Of Isis and Osiris.
 
Note 1.
No man is a hero to his valet-de-chambre.—Marshal Catinat (1637–1712).

Few men have been admired by their domestics.—Montaigne: Essays, book iii. chap. 2.

This phrase, “No man is a hero to his valet,” is commonly attributed to Madame de Sévigné, but on the authority of Madame Aissé (Letters, edited by Jules Ravenal, 1853) it really belongs to Madame Cornuel. [back]