A great nose indicates a great man—
Genial, courteous, intellectual,
Virile, courageous.

These lines are associated with Edmond Rostand’s verse drama *Cyrano de Bergerac* (1897), whose hero is a brilliant soldier-poet famed (and mocked) for his unusually large nose. In the play, Cyrano turns what others treat as a deformity into a badge of character, wit, and panache, repeatedly reframing insults as opportunities for verbal virtuosity. The sentiment that a “great nose” signals a “great man” fits the play’s broader romantic ethos: outward features become emblems of inner nobility, and self-possession matters more than conventional attractiveness. The quotation is typically encountered in English translation and is often excerpted in collections as a compact statement of Cyrano’s proud self-definition.

The quote is a comic paradox: it treats an exaggerated physical trait as evidence of moral and intellectual greatness. Beneath the humor lies a serious claim about dignity and self-fashioning. Cyrano refuses to be reduced to an object of ridicule; instead, he asserts that what looks like a flaw can signify abundance—of spirit, courage, intellect, and charm. The list (“Genial, courteous, intellectual, / Virile, courageous”) reads like a chivalric inventory, aligning masculinity with generosity and bravery rather than mere appearance. The line also satirizes superficial judgments: if society insists on reading character from faces, Cyrano will control the reading and make it flattering.