I confess（供认） that when first I made acquaintance with Charles Strickland, I never for a moment discerned（目睹） that there was in him anything out of the ordinary. Yet now, few will be found to deny（否定） his greatness. I do not speak of that greatness which is achieved by the fortunate（幸运的） politician or the successful soldier. That is a quality which belongs to the place he occupies（占领） rather than to the man, and a change of circumstances（情况） reduces it to very discrete（不连续的） proportions（比例）.