Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
A statement praising Huxley as the greatest Englishman of the 19th century.
In plain terms
Someone considered him the best Englishman of his time.
What can you take from it?
Greatness is often recognized by peers and contemporaries.

Where it applies

  • evaluating historical figures
  • writing biographies
  • public eulogies

Putting it to work

  • recognize contributions publicly
  • assess historical impact

Questions to consider

  • How do we measure greatness?
  • Who decides who is the greatest?

Another view

Such superlatives are subjective and contested.

More from Thomas Henry Huxley

  1. 'I'm a good Christian woman-I'm not an infidel like you!'

    Permalink to quote #84
  2. All of us owe a vast debt to Huxley, especially all of us of English speech, for it was he, more than any other man, who worked that great change in human thou…

    Permalink to quote #86
  3. 'Oh, there goes Professor Huxley; faded but still fascinating'

    Permalink to quote #83

Related quotes

  1. Let us forget the other names of American statesmen, that have been stamped upon these hills, but still call the loftiest - WASHINGTON. Mountains are Earth's u…

    Nathaniel HawthorneNathaniel Hawthorne quote #5
  2. Fra tutti il primo Arnaldo Daniello Gran maestro d'amor; ch'a la sua terra Ancor fa onor col suo dir strano e bello.

    Arnaut DanielArnaut Daniel quote #5
  3. In the Army of the Shenandoah, you were the First Brigade! In the Army of the Potomac you were the First Brigade! In the Second Corps of this Army, you are the…

    Thomas JacksonThomas Jackson quote #7