Source identified1
“I believe the first test of a truly great man is his humility.”
Ruskin defines greatness without self-worship: genuine ability can be recognized accurately while still being held inside a larger sense of proportion, dependence and responsibility.
Source note: Modern Painters, Volume III, Part IV, Chapter XVI, section 24, Project Gutenberg #38923. Ruskin immediately clarifies that humility does not mean doubt of one’s real power or hesitation about one’s opinions; it means understanding those powers in relation to a much larger world.
Source identified2
“It is only by honest reverence for art itself, and by great self-respect in the practice of it, that it can be rescued from dilettantism.”
Ruskin makes self-respect visible in workmanship: professional dignity comes from reverence for the work and serious standards in practice, not from chasing admiration or the social position of being called great.
Source note: Modern Painters, Volume III, Part IV, Project Gutenberg #38923. Ruskin contrasts honest reverence and self-respect in artistic practice with pursuing art chiefly to become a “great man” or attract admiration. This is the second distinct represented passage from Volume III, allowing the provenance page to clear the normal two-record floor.