“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.”
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.
“Behind every great fortune lies a great crime.”
“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.”
“There are many of us that are willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are willing to do little things.”
“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
“What we feel and think and are is to a great extent determined by the state of our ductless glands and viscera.”
“To vilify a great man is the readiest way in which a little man can himself attain greatness.”
“Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wisdom and a great empire and little minds go ill together.”
“He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend provided, of course, he really is dead.”
“The creations of a great writer are little more than the moods and passions of his own heart, given surnames and Christian names, and sent to walk the earth.”
“What great thing would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?”
“Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth. By simply not mentioning certain subjects... totalitarian propagandists have influenced opinion much more effectively than they could have by the most eloquent denunciations.”
“The salesman knows nothing of what he is selling save that he is charging a great deal too much for it.”
“In the United States, I am a great success, but I am not a celebrity.”
“He is neither a strategist nor is he schooled in the operational arts, nor is he a tactician, nor is he a general. Other than that he's a great military man.”
“Passion for fame: A passion which is the instinct of all great souls.”
“The overwhelming majority of Americans are possessed of two great qualities a sense of humor and a sense of proportion.”