"I have touched the highest point of all my greatness."

Wouldn't it be great to be great? Who among us doesn't at the very least aspire to be the best at what we do?

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon 'em" is probably one of the most famous Shakespeare quotes of all, and its popularity has been helped because it chimes with everything we read on the internet that offers advice or solutions for improving our lives.

The problem is - it's a scam.

It's what we might call fake muse - like so much of the internet, and the Large Language Models that are talking to us like the servile robots they are, tugging their metal forelocks and congratulating us for asking them such brilliant questions. The quote comes from a letter designed to flatter and trick the reader, Malvolio, into thinking his boss loves him.

Everywhere you look on the internet is motivational advice telling you that with hard work, discipline and application you can become truly great, but this fails to address the most important question - what do we mean by greatness?

This week I'll be reframing the definition of greatness. I'm not promising that I can help you run the hundred metres in less than ten seconds, but by the end of the show you'll have a better understanding of what it means to be truly great, and how you might be able to achieve it.

Oh and I'll explain how I was scammed this week just like Malvolio.

Plays featured in this episode are Twelfth Night, Twelfth Night and Twelfth Night, with a sprinkling of Hamlet and The Tempest and special guest appearance of Falstaff.

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