“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”
Greatness is not reserved for a select few. These quotes explore what it takes to do exceptional work, live with purpose, and push past mediocrity — not through talent alone, but through persistence, vision, and the refusal to settle.
“That's the great thing about a tractor. You can't really hear the phone ring.”
“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”
“The history of philosophy is to a great extent that of a certain clash of human temperaments.”
“As the mother of two daughters, I have great respect for women. And I don't ever want to lose that.”
“When a great many people are unable to find work, unemployment results.”
“We know but a few men, a great many coats and breeches.”
“Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition.”
“No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause.”
“Small debts are like small shot they are rattling on every side, and can scarcely be escaped without a wound: great debts are like cannon of loud noise, but little danger.”
“The great constitutional corrective in the hands of the people against usurpation of power, or corruption by their agents is the right of suffrage and this when used with calmness and deliberation will prove strong enough.”
“The past is a great place and I don't want to erase it or to regret it, but I don't want to be its prisoner either.”
“Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.”
“Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand.”
“The system is that there is no system. That doesn't mean we don't have process. Apple is a very disciplined company, and we have great processes. But that's not what it's about. Process makes you more efficient.”
“I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”
“To know how to hide one's ability is great skill.”