"No man ever yet became great by imitation." [past simple?]

[fabio409]

I've just seen this sentence on the cover photo of an American English native speaker's profile on Facebook:

"No man ever yet became great by imitation."

Doesn't "ever" necessarily convey the meaning of an experience? In that case, the experience of not having ever noticed a possibilty become true?

If so, isn't the use of perfect aspect required?

Thank you!

 

[ChinaDan]

Re: "No man ever yet became great by imitation." [simple past?]

Don't take my word for this; I'm half expecting to be corrected, but I think this is present simple. "Ever" might suggest past tense, but "ever yet" brings that into the present; it means "has so far", or "up to this point in time".

Waiting to see what the experts make of that...:?: