Quotes about greatness

"The measure of a master is his success in bringing all men around to his opinion twenty years later."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on greatness   

"The search after the great men is the dream of youth, and the most serious occupation of manhood."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on greatness   

"To be great is to be misunderstood."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on greatness
3 fans of this quote   

"A great man stands on God. A small man on a great man."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on greatness
4 fans of this quote   

"Great people are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force, that thoughts rule the world."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on greatness
8 fans of this quote   

"He is great who is what he is from nature, and who never reminds us of others."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on greatness
6 fans of this quote   

This quotation can be viewed in the context of a book

"No great thing is created suddenly."

Epictetus on greatness
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"I distrust Great Men. They produce a desert of uniformity around them and often a pool of blood too, and I always feel a little man's pleasure when they come a cropper."

Forster, Edward M. on greatness   

"There never was a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous."

Franklin, Benjamin on greatness
8 fans of this quote   

"The essence of greatness is neglect of the self."

Froude, James A. on greatness   

"It's not what you take but what you leave behind that defines greatness."

Gardner, Edward on greatness   

"The lights of stars that were extinguished ages ago still reaches us. So it is with great men who died centuries ago, but still reach us with the radiations of their personalities."

Gibran, Kahlil on greatness
4 fans of this quote   

"There are no great men, only great challenges that ordinary men are forced by circumstances to meet."

Halsey, William F. on greatness   

"No man is truly great who is great only in his lifetime. The test of greatness is the page of history."

Hazlitt, William on greatness   

"There would be no great men if there were no little ones."

Herbert, George on greatness   

"Great men are rarely isolated mountain-peaks; they are the summits of ranges."

Higginson, Thomas Wentworth on greatness   

"Greatness does not approach him who is forever looking down."

Hitopadesa on greatness   

"A great man's greatest good luck is to die at the right time."

Hoffer, Eric on greatness   

"To have a great man for a friend seems pleasant to those who have never tried it; those who have, fear it."

Horace on greatness   

"After a fellow gets famous it does not take long for someone to bob up that used to sit next to him in school."

Hubbard, Kin on greatness   

"There is a sacred horror about everything grand. It is easy to admire mediocrity and hills; but whatever is too lofty, a genius as well as a mountain, an assembly as well as a masterpiece, seen too near, is appalling."

Hugo, Victor on greatness   

"Great woman belong to history and to self sacrifice."

Hunt, Leigh on greatness   

"He was dull in a new way, and that made many think him great."

Johnson, Samuel on greatness   

This quotation can be viewed in the context of a book

"No one ever became great by imitation."

Johnson, Samuel on greatness
3 fans of this quote   

"The superiority of some men is merely local. They are great because their associates are little."

Johnson, Samuel on greatness   

"Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. you only need a heart full of grace. a soul generated by love."

King Jr. Martin Luther on greatness
13 fans of this quote   

"A position of eminence makes a great person greater and a small person less."

La Bruyere, Jean De on greatness   

"Neither wealth or greatness render us happy."

La Fontaine, Jean De on greatness   

"To achieve greatness one should live as if they will never die."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on greatness
9 fans of this quote   

"Great men always pay deference to greater."

Landor, Walter Savage on greatness   

"I want to be great, something special."

Leonard, Sugar Ray on greatness   

"There are people who possess not so much genius as a certain talent for perceiving the desires of the century, or even of the decade, before it has done so itself."

Lichtenberg, Georg C. on greatness   

"Traditionally the great men of our country have sprung from poor environments; that being so, it would appear we have long suffered from a severe lack of poverty."

Lieberman, Gerald F. on greatness   

"Whatever you are, be a good one."

Lincoln, Abraham on greatness
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"In our society those who are in reality superior in intelligence can be accepted by their fellows only if they pretend they are not."

Mannes, Marya on greatness   

"You know, sometimes, when they say you're ahead of your time, it's just a polite way of saying you have a real bad sense of timing."

Mcgovern, George on greatness   

"The world isn't kept running because it's a paying proposition. (God doesn't make a cent on the deal.) The world goes on because a few men in every generation believe in it utterly, accept it unquestioningly; they underwrite it with their lives."

Miller, Henry on greatness
4 fans of this quote   

"It is always the adventurers who do great things, not the sovereigns of great empires."

Montesquieu, Charles De on greatness   

"Let us never forget that the greatest man is never more than an animal disguised as a god."

Picabia, Francis on greatness   

"Those who intend on becoming great should love neither themselves or their own things, but only what is just, whether it happens to be done by themselves or others."

Plato on greatness