Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Quote by Simon Sebag Montefiore

“Greatness needs courage (above all) and willpower, charisma, intelligence and creativity but it also demands characteristics that we often associate with the least admirable people: reckless risk-taking, brutal determination, sexual thrill-seeking, brazen showmanship, obsession close to fixation and something approaching insanity. In other words, the qualities required for greatness and wickedness, for heroism and monstrosity are not too far distant from each other. The Norwegians alone have a word for this: stormannsgalskap – the madness of great men.”

Quote by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Book:Titans of History
Create image

Work

Titans of History

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Simon Sebag Montefiore

Browse famous quotes and profile details for Simon Sebag Montefiore. more

You May Also Like

“The Sad Boy Ay, his old mother was a glad one. And his poor old father was a mad one. The two begot this sad one. Alas for the single shoe The Sad Boy pulled out of the rank green pond, Fishing for fairies On the prankish advice Of two disagreeable lovers of small boys. Pity the unfortunate Sad Boy With a single magic shoe And a pair of feet And an extra foot With no shoe for it. This was how the terrible hopping began That wore the Sad Boy thin and through To his only shoe And started the great fright in the provinces above Brent Where the Sad Boy became half of himself To match the beautiful boot He had dripped from the green pond. Wherever he went weeping and hopping And stamping and sobbing, Pounding a whole earth into a half-heaven, Things split where he stood Into the left side for the left magic, Into no side for the missing right boot. Mercy be to the Sad Boy Scamping exasperated After a wide boot To double the magic Of a limping foot. Mercy to the melancholy folk On the Sad Boy's right. It was not for want of wandering He lost the left boot too And the knowledge of his left side, But because one awful Sunday This dear boy dislimbed Went back to the old pond To fish up another shoe And was quickly (being too light for his line) Fished in. Gracious how he kicks now All the little ripples up! The quiet population of Brent has settled down, And the perfect surface of the famous pond Is slightly pocked, marked with three signs, For visitors come to fish for souvenirs, Where the Sad Boy went in And his glad mother and his mad father after him.”

DeathSadnessIdentityMadnessMelancholyBoot
Book:The Poems of Laura Riding: A Newly Revised Edition of the 1938-1980 Collection
Create image

“WHO AM I? I have seven heavenly panels Leading up to a pointed sphere I’m multidimensional like a crystal And my center is never clear. I’m an inventor and pioneer. A mentor to my peers. But I'm not as sound as my shell reveals, Because I’m tormented by my fears - That may appear to be grounded But my insides are filled with tears. And the sadness is well-founded, From years and years Of traumatic experiences Compounded In the most demented Atmospheres. I talk but feel like nobody hears. Has reason disappeared? And, God, are you near? This is Giza’s 7th light force And I'm asking you to interfere. I can no longer walk amongst the blind and dead With open eyes and ears. I’m trying to maintain my sanity And to straighten up my veneer As I roll amongst the growing calamities Flowing on Earth’s severely trashed Frontier. Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun (2010)”

WorldLifeGodEarthPoetryPeaceUnited StatesEnvironmentSadnessTearsIgnorancePoetPerspectivePoemConscienceDestructionEarsMadnessBlindUnityChaosGreedTerrorCorruptionDivisionSanityEyesPollutionEgyptBlindnessTormentSocial ChangeChange The WorldFearsReflectionsSuzy KassemWarsVeneerWho Am IPioneerTormentedMindlessnessGizaCalamatiesGizam Dead
Book:Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem
Create image