I never knew a man come to greatness or eminence who lay abed late in the morning.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
High stations tumult, not bliss create.—None think the great unhappy, but the great.
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
It is not difficult to get away into retirement; and there live upon your own convictions; nor is it difficult to mix with men and follow their convictions; but to enter into the world; and there live firmly and fearlessly according to your own conscience; that is Christian greatness.
—Unknown
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
Greatness is a spiritual condition.
—Matthew Arnold (1822–88) English Poet, Critic
Great men are not always wise.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Greatness be nothing unless it be lasting.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
There would be no great men if there were no little ones.
—George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh Anglican Poet, Orator, Clergyman
Great men hallow a whole people, and lift up all who live in their time.
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English Clergyman, Essayist, Wit
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
The difference between Socrates and Jesus? The great conscious and the immeasurably great unconscious.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
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
Despite everybody who has been born and has died, the world has just gone on. I mean, look at Napoleon—but we went right on. Look at Harpo Marx—the world went around, it didn’t stop for a second. It’s sad but true. John Kennedy, right?
—Bob Dylan (b.1941) American Singer-songwriter
No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
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
He was dull in a new way, and that made many think him great.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
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
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
Th abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British 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
The greatest thing a man can do in this world is to make the most possible out of the stuff that has been given him. This is success, and there is no other.
—Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
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
They’re only truly great who are truly good.
—George Chapman (c.1560–1634) English Poet, Playwright
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
A great person is one who affects the mind of their generation.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Great men are rarely isolated mountain-peaks; they are the summits of ranges.
—Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823–1911) American Social Reformer, Clergyman
To achieve greatness one should live as if they will never die.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force, that thoughts rule the world.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) 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
To have a great man for a friend seems pleasant to those who have never tried it; those who have, fear it.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
The essence of greatness is neglect of the self.
—James Anthony Froude (1818–94) British Historian, Novelist, Biographer, Editor
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
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
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 merit, or great failings, will make you respected or despised; but trifles, little attentions, mere nothings, either done or neglected, will make you either liked or disliked in the general run of the world.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
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
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
No great man ever complains of want of opportunity.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American 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
Everything we think of as great has come to us from neurotics. It is they and they alone who found religions and create great works of art. The world will never realize how much it owes to them, and what they have suffered in order to bestow their gifts on it.
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922) French Novelist
Not he is great who can alter matter, but he who can alter my state of mind.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
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
The search after the great men is the dream of youth, and the most serious occupation of manhood.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Nothing great in this world has been accomplished without passion.
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) German Philosopher
The convent, which belongs to the West as it does to the East, to antiquity as it does to the present time, to Buddhism and Muhammadanism as it does to Christianity, is one of the optical devices whereby man gains a glimpse of infinity.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
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.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
He’s the greatest man who ever came out of Plymouth, Vermont. On Calvin Coolidge
—Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) American Civil Liberties Lawyer
Great men always pay deference to greater.
—Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864) English Writer, Poet
The qualities of a great man are vision, integrity, courage, understanding, the power of articulation, and profundity of character.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader