Balthasar Gracian - Aphorism #198

Aphorism #198: Know how to transplant Yourself

     There are nations with whom one must cross their borders to make one's value felt, especially in great
     posts. Their native land is always a stepmother to great talents: envy flourishes there on its native soil,
     and they remember one's small beginnings rather than the greatness one has reached. A needle is
     appreciated that comes from one end of the world to the other, and a piece of painted glass might outvie
     the diamond in value if it comes from afar. Everything foreign is respected, partly because it comes from
     afar, partly because It is ready made and perfect. We have seen persons once the laughing-stock of their
     village and now the wonder of the whole world, honoured by their fellow-countrymen and by the
     foreigners [among whom they dwell]; by the latter because theycome from afar, by the former because
     they are seen from afar. The statue on the altar is never reverenced by him who knew it as a trunk in the
     garden.