The maxim of the stone and clod of earth. A clod of earth may be considered to be hard as compared with cotton, but is soft as compared with a stone. So a person may be considered to be very important as compared with his inferiors, but sinks into insigni- ficance when compared with his bet- ters. The maxim is also used to de- note the relative importance of two things, though absolutely both may be bad; e. g....