Crossword puzzle clue "be more successful than"

Be more successful than

Story of a hero's less-than-successful early years before he got the sword idea?

Hamlet's "A little more than kin, and less than kind," e.g.

"Nothing is easier than to denounce the ___; nothing is more difficult than to understand him": Dostoyevsky

More than fair, less than great

Whence the line "A little more than kin, and less than kind"

More than never and less than twice

More than none but less than all