No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Because you are a great lord, you believe yourself to be a great genius. You took the trouble to be born, but no more.
—Pierre Beaumarchais (1732–99) French Inventor, Diplomat, Musician, Fugitive, Revolutionary
Great men always pay deference to greater.
—Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864) English Writer, Poet
We shall never resolve the enigma of the relation between the negative foundations of greatness and that greatness itself.
—Jean Baudrillard (1929–2007) French Sociologist, Philosopher
If you would attain greatness, think no little thoughts.
—Unknown
In my stars I am above thee, but be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness; thrust upon em.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
It is a grand mistake to think of being great without goodness; and I pronounce it as certain that there was never yet a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Great minds are like eagles, and build their nest in some lofty solitude.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher
Nature’s great masterpiece, an elephant;
the only harmless great thing.
—John Donne (1572–1631) English Poet, Cleric
He is not great who is not greatly good.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
At most, the greatest persons are but great wens, and excrescences; men of wit and delightful conversation, but as morals for ornament, except they be so incorporated into the body of the world that they contribute something to the sustentation of the whole.
—John Donne (1572–1631) English Poet, Cleric
Sighing that Nature formed but one such man, and broke the die.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Great men are not always wise.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
I never wanted to be famous. I only wanted to be great.
—Ray Charles (1930–2004) American Singer, Songwriter, Musician
To endure is greater than to dare; to tire out hostile fortune; to be daunted by no difficulty; to keep heart when all have lost it; to go through intrigue spotless; to forego even ambition when the end is gained—who can say this is not greatness?
—William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–63) English Novelist
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.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
All great men are gifted with intuition. They know without reasoning or analysis, what they need to know.
—Alexis Carrel (1873–1944) American Surgeon, Biologist
The dullard’s envy of brilliant men is always assuaged by the suspicion that they will come to a bad end.
—Max Beerbohm (1872–1956) British Essayist, Caricaturist, Novelist
It is a melancholy truth that even great men have their poor relations.
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
It was not reason that besieged Troy; it was not reason that sent forth the Saracen from the desert to conquer the world; that inspired the crusades; that instituted the monastic orders; it was not reason that produced the Jesuits; above all, it was not reason that created the French Revolution. Man is only great when he acts from the passions; never irresistible but when he appeals to the imagination.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
Do not despise the bottom rungs in the ascent to greatness.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
He’s the greatest man who ever came out of Plymouth, Vermont. On Calvin Coolidge
—Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) American Civil Liberties Lawyer
They’re only truly great who are truly good.
—George Chapman (c.1560–1634) English Poet, Playwright
Great men never make bad use of their superiority; they see it, and feel it, and are not less modest. The more they have, the more they know their own deficiencies.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
A great thing can only be done by a great person; and they do it without effort.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning. Great works are often born on a street corner or in a restaurant’s revolving door.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
Greatness and goodness are not means, but ends.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
There is nothing wrong with America that the faith, love of freedom, intelligence and energy of her citizens cannot cure.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader
Whatever you are, be a good one.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Not he is great who can alter matter, but he who can alter my state of mind.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
What are numbers knit
By force or custom? Man who man would be,
Must rule the empire of himself; in it
Must be supreme, establishing his throne
On vanquished will, quelling the anarchy
Of hopes and fears, being himself alone.
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) English Poet, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist
In historic events, the so-called great men are labels giving names to events, and like labels they have but the smallest connection with the event itself. Every act of theirs, which appears to them an act of their own will, is in an historical sense involuntary and is related to the whole course of history and predestined from eternity.
—Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) Russian Novelist
No man is truly great who is great only in his own lifetime. The test of greatness is the page of history.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
The price of greatness is responsibility.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
With such ardent eyes he wandered o’er me, and gazed with such intensity of love, sending his soul out to me in a look.
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
Twice in my lifetime the long arm of destiny has reached across the oceans and involved the entire life and manhood of the United States in a deadly struggle.There was no use in saying We don’t want it; we won
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
In my opinion, most of the great men of the past were only there for the beer—the wealth, prestige and grandeur that went with the power.
—A. J. P. Taylor (1906–90) British Historian, Journalist, Broadcaster
I never knew a man come to greatness or eminence who lay abed late in the morning.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
All your youth you want to have your greatness taken for granted; when you find it taken for granted, you are unnerved.
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973) Irish Novelist, Short-story Writer
Great people are meteors designed to burn so that the earth may be lighted.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
There are no great things, only small things with great love. Happy are those.
—Mother Teresa (1910–97) Roman Catholic Missionary, Nun
Let your enthusiasm radiate in your voice, your actions, your facial expressions, your personality, the words you use, and the thoughts you think! Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks.
—Herodotus (c.485–425 BCE) Ancient Greek Historian
Greatness is a spiritual condition.
—Matthew Arnold (1822–88) English Poet, Critic
Great men are true men, the men in whom nature has succeeded. They are not extraordinary—they are in the true order. It is the other species of men who are not what they ought to be.
—Henri Frederic Amiel (1821–81) Swiss Moral Philosopher, Poet, Critic
To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization.
—Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–96) American Abolitionist, Author
The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence; and the great welcome them out of vanity or need.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
A great person is one who affects the mind of their generation.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
False greatness is unsociable and remote: conscious of its own frailty, it hides, or at least averts its face, and reveals itself only enough to create an illusion and not be recognized as the meanness that it really is. True greatness is free, kind, familiar and popular; it lets itself be touched and handled, it loses nothing by being seen at close quarters; the better one knows it, the more one admires it.
—Jean de La Bruyere (1645–96) French Satiric Moralist, Author
Nothing great in this world has been accomplished without passion.
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) German Philosopher