Quotes About Greatness

Commenting on the return of Descartes' remains to his native France, Jacobi remarks that "It is often more convenient to possess the ashes of great men than to possess the men themselves during their lifetime.

i use pain to push me to greatness

Desire and imagination have the potential to position a person for greatness

The Divine Being brings comfort and consolation to men. He is a God for men that are weak, and want to be strong; for men that are impure, and want to be pure; for men that are unjust, and want to be just; for men that are unloving, and want to be loving; for men that aspire to all the greatness and glory of which the soul is capable.

The great men of earth are the shadowy men, who, having lived and died, now live again and forever through their undying thoughts.

Great men are but life-sized. Most of them, indeed, are rather short.

It is always in a time when one's attention is at the sharpest strain, when innumerable details are separately and clearly grasped by the mind, and, in a word, when the external circumstance of life is most real to us that the comic contrast between ourselves and the greatness outside us can best be appreciated.

Greatness without models? Inconceivable. One could not be the thing itself -- Reality. One must be satisfied with symbols.

Okay, so maybe they aren't the greatest generation by anyone's standard, but they are surely the best of the bottom third percentile of their own somewhat muddled and suspect generation.

The mind may never achieve or express anything great unless emotion plays a part.

The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering.

Over the latter half of the twentieth century, the forces of moral relativism, radical feminism, and generational nihilism have gradually destroyed the foundation of our own greatness. Instead of adopting stronger moral standards, our society has embraced the lure of personal fulfillment.

Toda grandeza acaba: las montañas se desmoronan, y hechas polvo, van al fondo del mar; los imperios se derriban, y hechos pedazos van al fondo de la historia; las glorias se apagan, y apenas dejan chispas en las lejanías de lo pasado; el sol se apagará también, todo es cuestión de tiempo, y no dejará más que una osamenta fría rodando por el espacio.

Great countries are those that produce great people.

Life is too short to be little.

Man is only truly great when he acts from the passions; never irresistible but when he appeals to the imagination.

Beware of endeavoring to become a great man in a hurry. One such attempt in ten thousand may succeed. These are fearful odds.

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

It is a grand mistake to think of being great without goodness and I pronounce it as certain that there was never a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous.

A truly great man will neither trample on a worm nor sneak to an emperor

The foundation of England's greatness is that Englishmen hate to look fools.

I refuse to give energy to the negative. I've got a great fella and two great little girls.

I believe Sam Peckinpah is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, and I hold him in high regard.

Klitschko was the reigning champion for a decade and regarded by many as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. I'm never going to face another opponent with that legacy.