Tall poppy syndrome

Tall poppy syndrome

If you tend to your garden and are successful in growing some flowers you will take the tallest, strongest specimen, cut it down and bring it indoors to be displayed.
It is also a tendency in some cultures to attack and "cut down" visibly successful people.

"Tall poppies" comes from an anecdote about an ancient monarch who sent a message by doing something rather than saying something. One version is in Rabelais, "Gargantua and Pantagruel".

As long as diversity of values exists, there will always be people criticizing those icons that are held up as the "model" that we should inspire to be like.