Acton Lord 1834-1902

Historical Essays and Studies

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.

Ali Muhammad (Cassius Clay)

When you're as great as I am, it's hard to be humble.

Asquith Margot 1865-1945

(of Lord Kitchener)

If Kitchener is not a great man, he is, at least, a great poster.

The Bible

Old Testament: Job ch.32 v.9

Great men are not always wise.

Blake William 1757-1827

Ms Note-Book

Great things are done when men and mountains meet
This is not done by jostling in the street.

Buchan John 1875-1940

Mr. Standfast

Its a great life if you don't weaken.

Coleridge Samuel Taylor 1772-1834

„The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"

He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small.

Dryden John 1631-1700

An Essay of Dramatic Poesy (of Shakespeare)

He was the man who of all modern, and perhaps ancient poets, had the largest and most comprehensive soul ... he is always great.

Dryden John 1631-1700

Heroic Stanzas (death of Oliver Cromwell)

For he was great, ere fortune made him so.

Emerson Ralph Waldo 1803-1882

Essays

It is so bad, then, to be misunderstood?
Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Gallileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.

Fadiman Clifton

There are two kinds of writers - the great ones who can give you truths, and the lesser ones, who can only give you themselves.

Fuller Thomas 1608-1661

Great and good are seldom the same man.

Gasset José Ortega y 1883-1955

What makes a nation great is not primarily its great men, but the stature of its innumerable mediocre ones.

Goodman Paul

Few great men could pass Personnel.

Holmes Oliver Wendell Jr. 1841-1935

Every calling is great when greatly pursued.

Landor Walter Savage 1775-1864

Great men too often have greater faults than little men can find room for.

Law Andrew Bonar 1858-1923

If I am a great man, then a good many of the great men of history are frauds.

Longfellow Henry Wadsworth 1807-1882

„A Psalm of Life"

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.

Lyttelton George 1709-1773

„Advice to a Lady"

Seek to be good, but aim not to be great;
A woman's noblest station is retreat.

Macaulay Baron (Thomas Babington)

Essay ... „Horace Walpole"

The conformation of his mind was such that whatever was little seemed to him great, and whatever was great seemed to him little.

Macaulay Baron (Thomas Babington)

Lays of Ancient Rome „Horatius"

Then none was for a party;
Then all were for the state;
The the great man helped the poor,
And the poor man loved the great:
Then lands were fairly portioned;
The spoils were fairly sold:
The Romans were like brothers
In the brave days of old.

Marie Queen of Romania

A woman's virtue ought indeed to be great: since it often has to suffice for two.

Meir Golda 1898-1978

Don't be so humble. You're not that great.

Nietzsche Friedrich 1844-1900

To do great things is difficult, but to command great things is more difficult.

Nietzsche Friedrich 1844-1900

Of what is great, one must either be silent, or speak with greatness - that means cynically and with innocence.

Nixon Richard 1913-1994

The great silent majority.

Pearson Maryon

Behind every great man there is a surprised woman.

Proverbs and Sayings

French

Only great men may have great faults.

Smith Sydney 1771-1845

Great men hallow a whole people, and lift up all who live in their time.

Stevenson Robert Louis 1850-1894

A Child's Garden of Verses „Looking Forward"

When I am grown to man's estate
I shall be very proud and great,
And tell the other gilrs and boys
Not to meddle with my toys.

Truman Harry S. 1884-1972

Well, I wouldn't say that I was in the „great" class, but I had a great time while I was trying to be great.

Young Edward 1683-1765

The Love of Fame

None think the great unhappy, but the great.

Great quotes, great quotations

Ali Muhammad (Cassius Clay) 1942-

(his slogan from c.1963)

I am the greatest.

Hare Julius and Hare Augustus 1795-1855 and 1792-1834

The greatest truths are the simplest, and so are the greatest men.

Montaigne Michel de 1533-1592

Essays

The greatest thing in the world is to know how to be oneself.

Rainborowe Thomas d.1648

(army debates at Putney)

The poorest he that is in England hath a life to live as the greatest he.

Rilke Rainer Maria 1875-1926

Do continue to believe that with your feeling and your work you are taking part in the greatest; the more strongly you cultivate in yourself this belief, the more will reality and the world go forth from it.

Taylor Henry

The world knows nothing of its greatest men.

Tennyson Alfred Lord 1809-1892

„Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington"

This is England's greatest son,
He that gained a hundred fights,
Nor ever lost an English gun.