A solemn and religious regard to spiritual and eternal things is an indispensable element of all true greatness.
—Daniel Webster (1782–1852) American Statesman, Lawyer
It is always the adventurers who do great things, not the sovereigns of great empires.
—Montesquieu (1689–1755) French Political Philosopher, Jurist
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
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
Since most of us spend our lives doing ordinary tasks, the most important thing is to carry them out extraordinarily well.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
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
Great minds are like eagles, and build their nest in some lofty solitude.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher
Whoever renders service to many puts himself in line for greatness—great wealth, great return, great satisfaction, great reputation, and great joy.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
Wisdom is the essential basis of greatness.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author
A great man stands on God. A small man on a great man.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Die when I may, I want it said of me by those who know me best, that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower when I thought a flower would grow.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
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
To vilify a great man is the readiest way in which a little man can himself attain greatness.
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–49) American Poet
Speaking generally, no man appears great to his contemporaries, for the same reason that no man is great to his servants—both know too much of him.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
Those who give too much attention to trifling things become generally incapable of great ones.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
Every great man is always being helped by everybody, for his gift is to get good out of all things and all persons.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
Success is all about consistency around the fundamentals.
—Robin Sharma (b.1964) Canadian Writer, Motivational Speaker
You can’t shrink your way to greatness!
—Seth Godin (b.1960) American Entrepreneur
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
The true test of a great man—that, at least, which must secure his place among the highest order of great men—is, his having been in advance of his age.
—Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux (1778–1868) Scottish Jurist, Politician
To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.
—Montesquieu (1689–1755) French Political Philosopher, Jurist
In estimating the greatness of great men, the inverted law of the physical stands for the intellectual and spiritual nature—the former is lessened by distance, the latter increased.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher
The difference between Socrates and Jesus? The great conscious and the immeasurably great unconscious.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Greatness once and forever has down with opinion.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Distinction is the consequence, never the object, of a great mind.
—Washington Allston (1779–1843) American Landscape Painter
Great men are rarely isolated mountain-peaks; they are the summits of ranges.
—Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823–1911) American Social Reformer, Clergyman
Great people are meteors designed to burn so that the earth may be lighted.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
Every great man is unique.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Greatness is a road leading towards the unknown
—Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) French General, Statesman
Neither wealth or greatness render us happy.
—Jean de La Fontaine (1621–95) French Poet, Short Story Writer
Great men are not always wise.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
There are three marks of a superior man; being virtuous, he is free from anxiety; being wise, he is free from perplexity; being brave, he is free from fear.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
Responsibility is the price of greatness.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
He is not great who is not greatly good.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
A really great man is known by three signs—generosity in the design, humanity in the execution, moderation in success.
—Otto von Bismarck (1815–98) German Chancellor, Prime Minister
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 (428 BCE–347 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
If you want to be important – that’s wonderful. If you want to be great – that’s wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That’s your new definition of greatness – it means that everybody can be great because everybody can serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know the second law of thermodynamics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love…
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
Doing justice to the work is your task, not setting a world record.
—Seth Godin (b.1960) American Entrepreneur
Greatness is the secular name for Divinity : both mean simply what lies beyond us.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
A great, a good, and a right mind is a kind of divinity lodged in flesh, and may be the blessing of a slave as well as of a prince: it came from heaven, and to heaven it must return; and it is a kind of heavenly felicity, which a pure and virtuous mind enjoys, in some degree, even upon earth.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
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.
—E. M. Forster (1879–1970) English Novelist, Short Story Writer, Essayist
Great crises produce great men and great deeds of courage.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
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
Great and good are seldom the same man.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
High stations tumult, not bliss create.—None think the great unhappy, but the great.
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
Great men suffer hours of depression through introspection and self-doubt. That is why they are great. That is why you will find modesty and humility the characteristics of such men.
—Bruce Fairchild Barton (1886–1967) American Author, Advertising Executive, Politician
If thou art rich, then show the greatness of thy fortune; or what is better, the greatness of thy soul, in the meekness of thy conversation; condescend to men of low estate, support the distressed, and patronize the neglected. Be great.
—Laurence Sterne (1713–68) Irish Anglican Novelist, Clergyman
Every individual has a place to fill in the world, and is important in some respect, whether he chooses to be so or not.
—Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–64) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
The measure of a master is his success in bringing all men around to his opinion twenty years later.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher