Sayings about Greatness
Great men have big hearts. ~ Ethiopian Proverbs
The greatest hero is one who has control over his desires. ~ Sanskrit Proverb
Alexander the Great was not very tall. ~ Greek Proverbs
It is the fate of the great ones of this earth, to be appreciated only after they are gone. ~ Traditional Proverb
Only great men may have great faults. ~ French Proverb
He is great whose faults can be numbered. ~ Hebrew Proverb
Greatness is not achieved with violence. ~ African Proverb
The greatest conqueror is he who overcomes the enemy without a blow. ~ Chinese Proverb
A truly great man never puts away the simplicity of a child. ~ Chinese Proverb
Great men’s requests are commands. ~ Danish Proverbs
Great people give it with reproaches. ~ Chinese Proverb
You are not great just because you say you are. ~ South African Proverb
Great talker, great liar. ~ French Proverb
A clever person turns great troubles into little ones and little ones into none at all. ~ Chinese Proverb
It is the blood of the soldier that makes the general great. ~ Italian Proverbs
The first step toward greatness is to be honest. ~ Traditional Proverb
Laws control the lesser man; right conduct controls the greater one. ~ Chinese Proverb
Great boasters, little doers. ~ French Proverb
The Irish forgive their great men when they are safely buried. ~ Irish Proverb
Man is greater than the tools he invents. ~ United States Proverb
A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness. ~ African Proverb
Quotations about Greatness
Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them. ~ William Shakespeare
Great people are meteors designed to burn so that the earth may be lighted. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte Quotes
No one who has come to true greatness has not felt in some degree that his life belongs to the people, and what God has given them he gives it for mankind. ~ Phillips Brooks
People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within. ~ Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
There would be no great men if there were no little ones. ~ George Herbert
Everybody can be great. ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
A great thing can only be done by a great person; and they do it without effort. ~ John Ruskin
He is greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own. ~ Henry Ward Beecher
The superiority of some men is merely local. They are great because their associates are little. ~ Samuel Johnson
The greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his surrender. ~ William Booth
He is not great who is not greatly good. ~ William Shakespeare
It’s not what you take but what you leave behind that defines greatness. ~ Edward Gardner
He is great who confers the most benefits. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Nobody’s ever the greatest anything. ~ Maralyn Polak
All great men are gifted with intuition. They know without reasoning or analysis, what they need to know. ~ Dr. Alexis Carrel
Neither wealth nor greatness render us happy. ~ Jean De La Fontaine
Great people are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force, that thoughts rule the world. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Greatness, in order to gain recognition, must all too often consent to ape greatness. ~ Jean Rostand
The price of greatness is responsibility. ~ Winston Churchill Quotes
There is a great man who makes every man feel small. But the real great man is the man who makes every man feel great. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton
It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not. ~ Hanoch McCarty
There are no great men, only great challenges that ordinary men are forced by circumstances to meet. ~ William F. Halsey
Greatness does not approach him who is forever looking down. ~ Hitopadesa
Great men are rarely isolated mountain-peaks; they are the summits of ranges. ~ Thomas Wentworth Higginson
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
To achieve greatness one should live as if they will never die. ~ Francois De La Rochefoucauld
Great people are able to do great kindnesses. ~ Miguel De Cervantes
Great men always pay deference to greater. ~ Walter Savage Landor
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 Quotes
It is the nature of all greatness not to be exact. ~ Edmund Burke
Great men are the guideposts and landmarks in the state. ~ Edmund Burke
No one ever became great by imitation. ~ Samuel Johnson
Do not despise the bottom rungs in the ascent to greatness. ~ Publilius Syrus
Traditionally the great men of our country have sprung from poor environments; that being so, it would appear we have long suffered from a severe lack of poverty. ~ Gerald F. Lieberman
There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness and truth. ~ Count Leo Tolstoy
Great necessities call forth great leaders. ~ Abigail Adams
The essence of greatness is the perception that virtue is enough. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
To be great is to be misunderstood. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Man is only truly great when he acts from his passions. ~ Benjamin Disraeli
The first step toward greatness is to be honest. ~ Author Unknown
The greatest men of a nation are those it puts to death. ~ Ernest Renan
Greatness and goodness are not means, but ends. ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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
A really great man is known by three signs: Generosity in the design, humanity in the execution, moderation in success. ~ Otto Von Bismarck
All my life I have always known I was born to greatness. ~ Oprah Winfrey Quotes
Great men are not always wise. ~ Bible
A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. ~ Bible
The history of the world is but the biography of great men. ~ Thomas Carlyle
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. ~ Author Unknown
Greatness is not standing above our fellows and ordering them around — it is standing with them and helping them to be all they can be. ~ Arthur G. Keough
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
Great men are the commissioned guides of mankind, who rule their fellows because they are wiser. ~ Thomas Carlyle
Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude. ~ Arthur Schopenhauer
It is the fate of the great ones of this earth, to be appreciated only after they are gone. ~ Author Unknown
No man is truly great who is great only in his lifetime. The test of greatness is the page of history. ~ William Hazlitt
A great man stands on God. A small man on a great man. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes
A position of eminence makes a great person greater and a small person less. ~ Jean De La Bruyere
Greatness is a spiritual condition. ~ Matthew Arnold
Great woman belong to history and to self sacrifice. ~ Leigh Hunt
A great man’s greatest good luck is to die at the right time. ~ Eric Hoffer
A great person is one who affects the mind of their generation. ~ Benjamin Disraeli
They’re only truly great who are truly good. ~ George Chapman
The search after the great men is the dream of youth, and the most serious occupation of manhood. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Great men hallow a whole people, and lift up all who live in their time. ~ Sydney Smith
It is a melancholy truth that even great men have their poor relations. ~ Charles Dickens Quotes
If you would attain greatness, think no little thoughts. ~ Author Unknown
There never was a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous. ~ Benjamin Franklin Quotes
No great man ever complains of want of opportunity. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Greatness is not found in possessions, power, position, or prestige. It is discovered in goodness, humility, service and character . ~ William Arthur Ward
Not he is great who can alter matter, but he who can alter my state of mind. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Great and good are seldom the same man. ~ Winston Churchill