Greatness Quotes - Page 3

• To achieve greatness one should live as if they will never die.

  Francois de La Rochefoucauld

  Achieve, Should, Dies

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• Greatness is never free; it must be earned.

  Barack Obama

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• If we cannot see the possibility of greatness, how can we dream it?

  Lee Strasberg

  Dream, Possibility, Ifs

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• When in doubt, choose greatness.

  Cyril Connolly

  Doubt, When In Doubt

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• A great man's greatest good luck is to die at the right time.

  Eric Hoffer

  Time, Good Luck, Men

  Eric Hoffer (1996). “The Passionate State of Mind”

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• Just as a child respects his father even when he perceives his weaknesses and faults, so a German will not despise the old Germany which was once a symbol of greatness to him.

  Gustav Stresemann

  Children, Father, Weakness

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• 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

  Men, World, Body

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• The tourist who moves about to see and hear and open himself to all the influences of the places which condense centuries of human greatness is only a man in search of excellence.

  Max Lerner

  Travel, Moving, Men

  Max Lerner (1959). “The Unfinished Country”

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• Many have had their greatness made for them by their enemies.

  Baltasar Gracian

  Enemy, Danger, Made

  Baltasar Gracian, Baltasar Gracián y Morales (2004). “The Art of Worldly Wisdom”, p.48, Shambhala Publications

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• 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.

  Khalil Gibran

  Inspirational, Stars, Men

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• 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

  Mean, Looks, Gone

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• Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so.

  Charles de Gaulle

  Inspirational, Success, Determination

  Charles de Gaulle (1960). “The Edge of the Sword”, New York : Criterion Books

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• Men achieve a certain greatness unawares when working to another aim.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Inspirational, Men, Achieve

  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1872). “Representative men. English traits. Conduct of life”, p.456

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• When the legends die, the dreams end; there is no more greatness.

  Tecumseh

  Dream, Legends, Dies

  "Inspire! What Great Leaders Do". Book by Lance Secretan, p. 67, 2004.

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• Well, I wouldn't say that I was in the great class, but I had a great time while I was trying to be great.

  Harry S. Truman

  Time, Class, Trying

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• Greatness is not manifested by unlimited pragmatism, which places such a high premium on the end justifying any means and any methods

  Margaret Chase Smith

  Mean, Ends, Unlimited

  Margaret Chase Smith (1972). “Declaration of Conscience”

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• It is a mistake to imagine that potentially great men are rare. It is the conditions that permit the promise of greatness to be fulfilled that are rare. What is so difficult to achieve is the cultural background that permits potential greatness to be converted into actual greatness.

  Fred Hoyle

  Mistake, Men, Promise

  Fred Hoyle (1966). “Of Men and Galaxies”, p.21, University of Washington Press

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• What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Inspirational, Thinking, People

  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1983). “Essays and Lectures”, p.263, Library of America

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• The great must submit to the dominion of prudence and of virtue, or none will long submit to the dominion of the great.

  Edmund Burke

  Long, Dominion, Virtue

  Edmund Burke (2016). “Delphi Complete Works of Edmund Burke (Illustrated)”, p.3765, Delphi Classics

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• Poverty is a veil that obscures the face of greatness. An appeal is a mask covering the face of tribulation.

  Khalil Gibran

  Poverty, Faces, Covering

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• I don't confuse greatness with perfection. To be great anyhow is the higher achievement.

  Lois McMaster Bujold

  Perfection, Achievement, Higher

  "Mirror Dance". Book by Lois McMaster Bujold, 1994.

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• The essence of greatness is neglect of the self.

  James Anthony Froude

  Acceptance, Self, Essence

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• Do not trust people. They are capable of greatness.

  Stanislaw Lem

  Trust, Business, People

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  Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.

  Khalil Gibran

  Inspirational, Life, Faith

  Khalil Gibran “Selected Short Works of Khalil Gibran”, Library of Alexandria

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• Some people have greatness thrust upon them. Very few have excellence thrust upon them.

  John W. Gardner

  People, Perfection, Excellence

  Dr. John W. Gardner (2015). “Excellence: Can We Be Equal And Excellent Too?”, p.103, Pickle Partners Publishing

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