One must not make oneself cheap here - that is a cardinal point - or else one is done. Whoever is most impertinent has the best chance.

The remark frames artistic and professional survival as a matter of guarding one’s dignity and bargaining position. “Not make oneself cheap” implies refusing to accept humiliating terms, underpayment, or deferential behavior that signals dispensability—especially in a competitive courtly or patronage-driven environment. The blunt addendum that “whoever is most impertinent has the best chance” suggests that assertiveness (even bordering on insolence) can function as a strategy: those who press their claims, demand fair treatment, and resist being pushed around may secure better opportunities than those who are compliant. Read this way, the quote captures a hard-earned, pragmatic view of status, negotiation, and self-respect in a world where talent alone does not guarantee security.