Quotes About Greatness

When it is impossible to stretch the very elastic threads of historical ratiocination any farther, when actions are clearly contrary to all that humanity calls right or even just, the historians produce a saving conception of 'greatness.' 'Greatness,' it seems, excludes the standards of right and wrong. For the 'great' man nothing is wrong, there is no atrocity for which a 'great' man can be blamed.

To a lackey no man can be great, for a lackey has his own conception of greatness.

There is nothing certain, nothing at all except the unimportance of everything I understand, and the greatness of something incomprehensible but all-important.

And it occurs to no one that to admit a greatness not commensurable with the standard of right and wrong is merely to admit one's own nothingness and immeasurable meanness. For us with the standard of good and evil given us by Christ, no human actions are incommensurable. And there is no greatness where simplicity, goodness, and truth are absent.

And it occurs to no one that to acknowledge a greatness not commensurate with the standard of right and wrong is merely to admit one's own nothingness and immeasurable meanness.

Man is flowing. In him there are all possibilities: he was stupid, now he is clever; he was evil, now he is good, and the other way around. In this is the greatness of man.

Looking into Napoleon's eyes Prince Andrew thought of the insignificance of greatness, the unimportance of life which no one could understand, and the still greater unimportance of death, the meaning of which no one alive could understand or explain.

Looking into Napoleon's eyes Prince Andrei thought of the insignificance of greatness, the unimportance of life which no one could understand, and the still greater unimportance of death, the meaning of which no one alive could understand or explain.

And it never enters anyone's head that the recognition of a greatness not measurable by the measure of good and bad is only a recognition of one's own insignificance and immeasurable littleness. For us, with the measures of good and bad given us by Christ, nothing is immeasurable. And there is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness, and truth.

Con los ojos fijos en Napoleón pensaba en la insignificancia de la grandeza, en la insignificancia de la vida cuyo objeto nadie comprendía, en la insignificancia mayor aún de la muerte cuyo sentido permanecía oculto e impenetrable a los humanos

Everything seemed so futile and insignificant in comparison with the stern and solemn train of thought that weakness from loss of blood, suffering, and the nearness of death aroused in him . Looking into Napoleon's eyes Prince Andrew thought of the insignificance of greatness, the unimportance of life which no one could understand, and the still greater unimportance of death, the meaning of which no one alive could understand or explain.

Wo nicht Einfachheit, Güte und Wahrhaftigkeit ist, gibt es auch keine Größe.

there is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness, and truth.

But every time there have been conquests there have been conquerors; every time there has been a revolution in any state there have been great men,

La grandeza nunca es en vano. Las virtudes ganadas con dolor y sacrificio son más fuertes que el odio y la muerte. Como el sol que sale de las noches profundas, tarde o temprano brillarán

John the Baptist's training was in God's University of Silence. God takes all His great men there.

Christ conquered him two thousand years ago. Satan fools and feints, blows and bluffs, and we so often take his threats to heart and forget ''the exceeding greatness of God's power to usward.

I learned from my mother that there is a greatness in all of us, and that all of us are delivered to this world with a mission. I believe that life is a journey, often difficult and sometimes incredibly cruel, but we are well equipped for it only we tap into our talents and gifts and allow them to blossom.

The more a man learns, Dickens said, "the better, gentler, kinder man he must become. When he knows how much great minds have suffered for the truth in every age and time… he will become more tolerant of other men's belief in all matters, and will incline more leniently to their sentiments when they chance to differ from his own.

The most agreeable of all companions is a simple, frank man, without any high pretensions to an oppressive greatness; one who loves life, and understands the use of it; obliging alike at all hours; above all, of a golden temper and steadfast as an anchor. For such an one we gladly exchange the greatest genius, the most brilliant wit, the profoundest thinker.

That's part of American greatness, is discrimination. Yes, sir. Inequality, I think, breeds freedom and gives a man opportunity.

Alas ! the contrast between us, and what We can create; That man should be so little in himself, His works so great.

Alone in his room, he smiled at his secret greatness.

The gods were great, but what good was greatness if you didn't love?