“We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.”
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.
“I played a great horse yesterday! It took seven horses to beat him.”
“We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.”
“Every great man, every successful man, no matter what the field of endeavor, has known the magic that lies in these words: every adversity has the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.”
“Nobody, I think, ought to read poetry, or look at pictures or statues, who cannot find a great deal more in them than the poet or artist has actually expressed. Their highest merit is suggestiveness.”
“Great minds are related to the brief span of time during which they live as great buildings are to a little square in which they stand: you cannot see them in all their magnitude because you are standing too close to them.”
“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.”
“Rock 'n' roll is ridiculous. It's absurd. In the past, U2 was trying to duck that. Now we're wrapping our arms around it and giving it a great big kiss.”
“A great man is made up of qualities that meet or make great occasions.”
“Man seems to be capable of great virtues but not of small virtues capable of defying his torturer but not of keeping his temper.”
“They never fail who die in a great cause.”
“It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment.”
“My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.”
“The overwhelming majority of Americans are possessed of two great qualities a sense of humor and a sense of proportion.”
“He had no failings which were not owing to a noble cause to an ardent, generous, perhaps an immoderate passion for fame a passion which is the instinct of all great souls.”
“The great defense against the air menace is to attack the enemy's aircraft as near as possible to their point of departure.”
“Nurture your minds with great thoughts. To believe in the heroic makes heroes.”