Nothing is meaner, and more typical of the mob, than to speak in glowing terms of those whom one held in little account before their rise to eminence.
[Il n’y a rien de plus bas, et qui convienne mieux au peuple, que de parler en des termes magnifiques de ceux mêmes dont l’on pensait très modestement avant leur élévation.]
Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 12 “Of Opinions [Des Jugements],” § 5 (12.5) (1688) [tr. Stewart (1970)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:There's nothing so mean, and so like the Mob, as to talk much in the praise of those very persons, of whom we thought indifferently before their promotion.
[Bullord ed. (1696)]There is nothing so mean and so like the Vulgar, as to talk much in praise of those very Persons, of whom we thought indifferently before their promotion.
[Curll ed. (1713)]There's nothing so mean, and so truly vulgar, as to sound the Praise of those very Persons, of whom we thought but indifferently before their Promotion.
[Browne ed. (1752)]There is nothing so mean and so truly vulgar as extravagantly to praise those very persons of whom we had but very indifferent opinions before their promotion.
[tr. Van Laun (1885)]
Quotations about:
promotion
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Be fit for more than the thing you are now doing. Let everyone know that you have a reserve in yourself, — that you have more power than you are now using. If you are not too large for the place you occupy, you are too small for it.
James A. Garfield (1831-1881) US President (1881), lawyer, lay preacher, educator
“Elements of Success,” speech at Spencerian Business College, Washington, DC (29 Jun 1869)
(Source)
Reprinted in in B. A. Hinsdale, ed., President Garfield and Education: Hiram College Memorial, ch. 8 (1882).
There is nothing more common than to hear of men losing their energy on being raised to a higher position, to which they do not feel themselves equal.
[Nichts gewöhnlicher ist als Beispiele von Männern, die ihre Thätigkeit verlieren, sobald sie zu höheren Stellen gelangen, denen ihre Einsichten nicht mehr gewachsen sind.]
Karl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) Prussian soldier, historian, military theorist
On War [Vom Kriege], Book 1, ch. 3 “On Military Genius [Der Kriegerishe Genius],” (1.3) (1832) [tr. Graham (1873)]
(Source)
(Source (German)). Alternate translations:There is nothing more common than to hear of men losing their energy on being raised to a higher position, to which their abilities are no longer equal.
[tr. Jolles (1943)]No case is more common than that of the officer whose energy declines as he rises in rank and fills positions that are beyond his abilities.
[tr. Howard & Paret (1976)]
From the standpoint of a professional military man there is one good thing about revolutions: the opportunities for swift promotion are excellent . . . even if the pay is inclined to be irregular.
All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind.
Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) Polish-English novelist [b. Teodor Josef Konrad Korzeniowski]
A Personal Record (1912)
Hire and promote first on the basis of integrity; second, motivation; third, capacity; fourth, understanding; fifth, knowledge; and last and least, experience. Without integrity, motivation is dangerous; without motivation, capacity is impotent; without capacity, understanding is limited; without understanding, knowledge is meaningless; without knowledge, experience is blind. Experience is easy to provide and quickly put to good use by people with all the other qualities.
Dee W. Hock (1929-2022) American businessman
In M. Mitchell Waldrop, “Dee Hock on Management,” Fast Company (Oct/Nov 1996)
(Source)
In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919-1990) American educator, management theorist
The Peter Principle, ch. 1 (1969)
