A fiery soul, which, working out its way.
Fretted the pygmy-body to decay,
And o'er-inform'd the tenement of clay. [ John Dryden ]

The reputation of a man is like his shadow, - gigantic when it precedes him, and pygmy in its proportions when it follows. [ Talleyrand ]

The Grecian's maxim would indeed be a sweeping clause in literature; it would reduce many a giant to a pygmy, many a speech to a sentence, and many a folio to a primer. [ Colton ]

Through tattered clothes small vices do appear: robes and furred gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold, and the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks; arm it in rags, a pygmy's straw doth pierce it. [ William Shakespeare ]