A great nose may be an index Of a great soul

The line is associated with Edmond Rostand’s verse drama "Cyrano de Bergerac" (1897), whose hero is famously defined—both comically and poignantly—by his unusually large nose. In the play, Cyrano’s physical feature becomes a public target for mockery, yet it also functions as a dramatic emblem of his inner stature: courage, wit, pride, and moral independence. Rostand wrote the play during the fin-de-siècle revival of romantic theater in France, and Cyrano quickly became a cultural symbol of panache—an outward flamboyance masking deep sensitivity. The sentiment that a “great nose” signals a “great soul” reflects the play’s broader inversion of superficial judgments about appearance.

The aphorism turns a supposed defect into a badge of greatness. On the surface it is a witty paradox: an exaggerated physical trait, typically ridiculed, is recast as evidence of spiritual or moral magnitude. More deeply, it critiques the habit of judging character by conventional standards of beauty and suggests that what society labels “ugly” can coincide with nobility, originality, and strength. In "Cyrano de Bergerac," the nose is not merely comic; it becomes a symbol of outsized personality—Cyrano’s refusal to be diminished, his capacity for eloquence and bravery, and his tragic vulnerability in love. The line thus celebrates inner worth over outward appearance.