"To love one that is great, is almost to be great one's self"

Samuel Johnson suggests a profound connection between the admirer and the admired. To love someone who possesses greatness, whether it manifests as intellect, character, virtue, or achievement, requires an elevated capacity for appreciation. Such love implies the discernment and depth necessary to recognize and be drawn to exceptional qualities. In seeing greatness in another, and feeling affection for it, one becomes engaged in a form of moral or intellectual emulation, drawn upwards by the very qualities one admires.

Admiration is not a passive act. It requires the lover to step beyond shallow assessments and fleeting attractions. To truly love someone great, an individual must perceive and value those rarer aspects that constitute real greatness. This ability comes only to those who themselves possess, or are capable of aspiring to, higher qualities of mind or spirit. By esteeming greatness, the admirer implicitly demonstrates their own nobility of taste and sensibility. The heart that is moved by what is truly excellent inevitably reflects a measure of that excellence.

Moreover, the act of loving greatness inspires self-improvement. Affection for greatness can serve as a catalyst for personal growth, as the lover unconsciously shapes their own character in response to what they honor in another. The greatness of the beloved becomes both a mirror and a target, showing the lover what could be, and encouraging them to attain similar virtues or accomplishments. In this sense, love becomes transformative, lifting the lover towards the same heights their beloved has achieved.

The relationship between lover and the great is not one of mere adulation or envy; rather, it is an active participation in the values and aspirations that make greatness possible. Through this love, boundaries blur between the observer and the object of admiration, elevating both. In loving greatness, one does not remain ordinary, but becomes kindred with what is exalted.