To be a man of greatness and choose to be less

Recently watched this exchange between Superman and Tal-Rho, in Superman & Lois season 1, episode 11:

Tal-Rho: [I want to] understand what possible reason you could have to betray your heritage. And to think it was all for a human family. (...) A human wife and twin boys. How woefully pedestrian. And you, stumbling through your daily life like some village idiot instead of a true son of Krypton. (...) To be a man of greatness and choose to be less… It speaks to the mediocrity of this world.

I love the contrast between (Kryptonian) villains and Superman, their complete lack of understanding of what's going on inside his head. The wildly differing perspectives.

Tal: Terrible father on Krypton, had a terrible time on earth. Or just any Kryptonian like Zod who has no concept of having a good upbringing on earth, and becoming a good person. They just don't understand. It seems nuts to them.

Clark: Great upbringing on earth, from a young age. Has no real memories of Krypton, has no proper connection to his "Kryptonian heritage", or at least not in a way that matters more than his family. Earth is all he's ever known, he loves Lois, he loves the boys. What possible joy and satisfaction would he get from ruling the world. All he wants is a human life (sort of), his human family. "To be a man of greatness and choose to be less" – no he isn't choosing to be less, not to him. He already has everything he wants.

Then, in episode 13:

Tal: Don’t you ever wonder who you might’ve been if you hadn’t landed here, been raised by simple farmers?

Clark: I’d be nothing like you.

Now that is a good question. What if Clark had a bad time too, would he remain a purely good person? Completely depends on the writer, and how bad the circumstances are. I think a big chunk of Clark's goodness is definitely just him, his core, his personality. But having a good childhood and family definitely plays a huge part. And then growing up on earth as the next important thing. Look at "Absolute Superman" for example. Kal in that story had a much rougher time, didn't grow up on earth, but he still grew up with good, loving parents on Krypton. This version is still very Superman like, just angrier. And then there's "Red Son", where he grew up in Russia. It's been too long since I read that, so I can't comment on the direction his life takes there, but he's definitely less of a good guy there.