In my childhood I demurred to the description of a certain young lady as “the pretty Miss So-and-So.” My aunt rebuked me by saying “Remember always that the least plain sister is the family beauty.” + 

No age or condition is without its heroes. The least incapable general in a nation is its Caesar, the least imbecile statesman its Solon, the least confused thinker its Socrates, the least commonplace poet its Shakespeare. + 