E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
No Man is a Hero to his own Valet.
Montaigne (1533–1592) said: “Peu d’hommes ont esté admirés par leurs domestiques.” Mad. Cornuel (who died 1694) wrote to the same effect: “Il n’y a pas de grand homme pour son valet de chambre.”
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“A prophet is not without honour save in … his own house.”—Matt. xiii. 56
