feet of clay, to have

A failing or fault in one who is held in high regard. The term comes from the Bible’s Book of Daniel (2:33), in which the prophet interprets King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of an image of gold, sil- ver, and brass, but “his feet part of iron and part of clay.” These feet were what made the image vulnerable and, according to Daniel, predicted the breakup of the empire.