Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.

Irving contrasts two temperaments under adversity. “Little minds” are those whose sense of self and possibility is easily constrained by external blows; misfortune “tames” them into caution, resentment, or resignation. “Great minds,” by contrast, treat hardship as something to be met with inner independence—maintaining perspective, adapting, and even converting setbacks into moral or practical strength. The aphorism participates in a long tradition of stoic-inflected moral writing that measures character by response to fortune, suggesting that greatness is less a matter of talent than of resilience and self-command when circumstances turn hostile.