Quote help meaning?

Question

a great man shows his greatness by the way he treats little men?

Answer 1

Hmmm...heres a good guess.

It means that a man shows he is a good person by treating other people who are not as great as him with respect and kindness.

Answer 2

it is about respect and how the great man treats others equally. That is a great quote.

Answer 3

Thomas Carlyle said that.  I agree with the premise, great people need to hold their ego in check and be respectful and kind to their fellow man regardless of stature.

Answer 4

It means that a man shows how much of a good person he is by treating people of lesser authority like his own people and people who are on his level...

In other words, someone who treats others like if they were equal to him no matter what position they're in...

Ex. Rich man gives poor people money and wants to give poor people money because it's the right thing, not because it would make him famous...

Answer 5

Is it better to be loved or feared? I'm having a hard time trying to re-word this quote for a simple understanding because it sounds self explanatory to me. I can only think of leaders like Martian Luther, Adolf Hitler. They were both great men but how do they use their greatness? What legacy did they leave behind? They both had followers but were they loved of feared? They both knew they were great but who forced their greatness upon others?

Do we have to go that far back? What about George Bush how does he treat the little man?