Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some…

The words come from Act II, scene 5 of Twelfth Night. Maria has forged a letter in the handwriting of her mistress Olivia and dropped it where Malvolio, Olivia’s pompous steward, will find it. Hidden in a box-tree, Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Fabian watch him puzzle over the riddle “M, O, A, I, doth sway my life” and convince himself that it points to him. He reads on: “In my stars I am above thee”, and this line follows.

The letter urges him to be surly with servants, wear yellow stockings, cross-gartered, and smile. He obeys; when he appears before Olivia repeating the words, she thinks him mad, and he is locked in a dark room. In the last act, the Fool quotes the line back at him, and Malvolio storms out: “I’ll be revenged on the whole pack of you.”

Twelfth Night was performed in London in February 1602. Detached from its cruel joke, the line is now quoted in earnest, as encouragement to anyone facing a great role.

Twelfth Night, Act II, scene 5 (the letter read by Malvolio), 1602

Checked word for word in the work itself.

Read the passage in the work