place in the sun

English edit

place in the sun (plural places in the sun)

(figuratively) A favorable position, characterized by comfort, success, wealth or general well-being.
- 1908, Laurie Magnus, English literature in the nineteenth century: an essay in criticism, page 32:
  that all conscious or seeming-conscious life is worthy of a place in the sun; that the hodman at his plough, the daisy in the field, and the lover with his lass, are alike a part of Nature's pageant
- 1992, Mark A. Noll, A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada, page 311:
  And beyond the Christian orbit, other religious groups, at first Jews but then others as well, began to claim a place in the sun.
(figuratively) Recognition, fame.
- 1972, Ben Barr Lindsey with Wainwright Evans, The companionate marriage, page 72:
  Jealousy is simply another way of demanding one's place in the sun – or under the domestic spotlight – a place in the center of the stage, as an exclusive object of consideration and attention.
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see place,‎ sun.

^ Blaise Pascal (a. 1662) Pensées: “Mien, tien – Ce chien est à moi, disaient ces pauvres enfants. C'est là ma place au soleil. Voilà le commencement et l'image de l'usurpation de toute la terre. ― Mine, thine. – "This dog is mine," said those poor children; "that is my place in the sun." Here is the beginning and the image of the usurpation of all the earth.”