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Greatness Quotes

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Greatness Quotes

“In America we have only the bourgeoisie, and the love of the heroic is one of the few counterpoises available to us. In us the contempt for the heroic is only an extension of the perversion of the democratic principle that denies greatness and wants everyone to feel comfortable in his skin without having to suffer unpleasant comparisons. Students have not the slightest notion of what an achievement it is to free oneself from public guidance and find resources for guidance within oneself.”

Source: Closing of the American Mind

“If the title of a great man ought to be reserved for him who cannot be charged with an indiscretion or a vice, who spent his life in establishing the independence, the glory and durable prosperity of his country; who succeeded in all that he undertook, and whose successes were never won at the expense of justice, integrity, or by the sacrifice of a single principle--this title will not be denied to Washington.”

Ifs Men Country Justice Principles Sacrifice Greatness Ought Integrity Glory Independence Prosperity Vices Titles Great Men Expenses Denied Reserved

Book:The Life of George Washington by Jared Sparks

Source: The Life of George Washington by Jared Sparks

“It is often lamented by the churchmen that Washington and Lincoln possessed little religion except that found in the word 'God.' All that can here be affirmed is that what the religion of those two men lacked in theological details it made up in greatness. Their minds were born with a love of great principles... There are few instances in which a mind great enough to reach great principles in politics has been satisfied with a fanatical religion... It must not be asked for Washington and Lincoln that, having reached greatness in political principles, they should have loved littleness in piety.”

Men Should Mind Littles Has Beens Made Two Enough Political Found Born Principles Atheism Greatness Should Have Details Positive Atheism Satisfied Instance Possessed Piety Theological

Author:David Swing

“Immediately upon the fall, the mind of man shrank from its primitive greatness and expandedness, to an exceeding smallness and contractedness... Before, his soul was under the government of the noble principles of divine love, whereby it was enlarged to the comprehensiveness of all his fellow creatures and their welfare... [But] sin, like some powerful astringent, contracted his soul to the very small dimensions of selfishness, and God was forsaken, and man retired within himself, and became totally governed by narrow and selfish principles and feelings.”

“Realizing who we are and what we may become assures us that with God nothing really is impossible. From the time we learn that Jesus wants us for a Sunbeam until we learn more fully the basic principles of the gospel, we are taught to strive for perfection. It is not new to us then to talk of the importance of achievement. The difficulty arises when inflated expectations of the world alter our definition of greatness.”

“A nation's greatness is measured not just by its gross national product or military power, but by the strength of its devotion to the principles and values that bind its people and define their character.”

People Character Values Nations Principles Military Greatness Products Devotion Gross Military Power Principles And Values

Author:Ronald Reagan

“Sound moral principle is the only sure evidence of strength, the only firm foundation of greatness and perpetuity. Where this is lacking, no man's character is strong; no nation's life can be lasting.”

Men Character Strong Nations Sound Moral Principles Greatness Evidence Foundation Firm Lasting Lacking Moral Principles Firm Foundation

Author:Orson F. Whitney

“I am not a 'democrat' only because 'humility' and equality are spiritual principles corrupted by the attempt to mechanize and formalize them, with the result that we get not universal smallness and humility, but universal greatness and pride, till some Orc gets hold of a ring of power--and then we get and are getting slavery.”

Spiritual Results Principles Greatness Humility Pride Universal Slavery Democrat Rings Smallness Orcs

Book:The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien

Source: The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien

“A culture of discipline is not a principle of business, it is a principle of greatness.”

Culture Principles Greatness Discipline Execution Good To Great

Author:James C. Collins

“Faith-not a faith in one's self or in one's own powers but faith in principle; in the Something Great which upholds right, and which may be relied upon to give us the victory in due time. Without this faith it is not possible for any one to rise to real greatness.”

Giving May Real Self Faith Principles Greatness Victory Dues Due Time

Book:The Science of Being Great: Personal Self-Help Book of Wallace D. Wattles (Unabridged): From one of The New Thought pioneers, author of The Science of Getting Rich, The Science of Being Well, How to Get What You Want, Hellfire Harrison, How to Promote Yourself and A New Christ

Source: The Science of Being Great: Personal Self-Help Book of Wallace D. Wattles (Unabridged): From one of The New Thought pioneers, author of The Science of Getting Rich, The Science of Being Well, How to Get What You Want, Hellfire Harrison, How to Promote Yourself and A New Christ

“It would appear... that moral phenomena, when observed on a great scale, are found to resemble physical phenomena; and we thus arrive, in inquiries of this kind, at the fundamental principle, that the greater the number of individuals observed, the more do individual peculiarities, whether physical or moral, become effaced, and leave in a prominent point of view the general facts, by virtue of which society exists and is preserved.”

Source: Comparative statistics in the 19th century

“It is a law of our humanity, that man must know both good and evil; he must know good through evil. There never was a principle but what triumphed through much evil; no man ever progressed to greatness and goodness but through great mistakes.”

Knows Men Law Humanity Evil Mistake Principles Greatness Goodness Great Mistakes

Author:Frederick William Robertson

“The decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the cause of the destruction multiplied with the extent of conquest; and, as soon as time or accident and removed the artificial supports, the stupendous fabric yielded to the pressure of its own weight. The story of the ruin is simple and obvious: and instead of inquiring why the Roman Empire was destroyed we should rather be surprised that it has subsisted for so long.”

Source: The History of the Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire