The man who is anybody and who does anything is surely going to be criticized, vilified, and misunderstood. That is part of the penalty for greatness, and every great man understands it; and understands, too, that it is no proof of greatness. The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure continously without resentment.
quote by Elbert Hubbard
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure criticism without resentment.
quote by Elbert Hubbard
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sonnet: On Greatness
Greatness is not a thing, much like an art;
Some man turns great if on it he stumbles;
His greatness ceases, if he thinks, he's great;
Great is he truly who tho' great, humbles.
Greatness is not true greatness, self-proclaimed;
Greatness is not what world showers on us;
Greatness is neither got by being claimed.
Greatness is not achieved by making fuss.
Greatness could come if world decides to give;
Greatness will stay if God blesses our work;
Such greatness, God-destined comes while men live;
Greatness can grow even without much luck.
Greatness doesn't come to everyone on earth;
Some men are made great; some are great by birth.
poem by John Celes
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The 'Potential' For Greatness IS There
If a greatness is indeed appreciated,
Wouldn't it take more than one to satiate the taste?
It would lessen the propaganda.
And the hype of it would not be faked.
'Well...
Okay.
Let me say...
The 'potential' for greatness is there.'
mmm...
That makes the taste of it easier to take,
Somehow.
That way,
My expectations aren't set so high.
And I can determine what is given,
More delicious than it is!
You get my point?
'I think so.
YOU want to determine,
The 'greatness'.
And when and 'if' that should be labelled as such!
Giving 'you' a purpose to encourage and spread the word.'
Of course.
I don't want to have it enforced.
I would think you would want my expectations to rise!
To declare something 'great'...
Leaves it to be criticized and opened to be downsized.
'Maybe we should hire you to do our marketing? '
Well...
As you yourself stated,
The 'potential' for greatness is there.
'I now can see,
The point you are making.
The potential for greatness 'IS' there.'
Exactly!
There is no need to overwhelm the message.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.
quote by William Shakespeare
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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0162 Greatness
How great is greatness? asks my questing soul:
scenting behind that quest, eternity;
that dark which, studied, lights the dazzling whole
and brings to finite thought, infinity;
as when great singers sing, all hearts can sing;
great dancers give us sense that all can dance;
great actors speak for all of us; we think
to know all painted greatness at one glance:
we know already, greatness' unfenced whole,
we know that boundless place, the human heart;
Creation is no secret to our soul;
all being sings its song in every part.
How glorious those sages who can see
in everything that lives, totality!
poem by Michael Shepherd
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The chief proof of mans greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness.
Arthur Conan Doyle in A Study in Scarlet
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Greatness
You want to be led to greatness.
You believe that it comes,
Without pain and sacrifice.
You perceive it to be a condition taught.
Something instructed or can be bought.
Something delivered upon your acceptance.
But no one known that is considered great...
Waited in anticipation to have it placed,
And presented on a plate as they safely ate!
Greatness isn't something someone takes.
Greatness is announced...
After someone has been trounced,
Through the trenches!
And 'remarkably' survives.
Surprising even the one who is stunned.
This was not a consideration,
In the mind of one who kept focused...
On what at the time,
Needed to be done!
And greatness was bestowed,
By what one did and showed!
Rising to heights,
Inspite of opposition!
And not submitting to a conformity,
That sits and seeks to be led!
Greatness is ahead of those,
Following!
Those feeding,
Upon wishes to be fed!
By that which has been left,
To nibble and taste...
From pioneering explorations!
In a desperation to succeed!
And most times discovered,
In disregard of danger!
In disregard...
Of blood one might bleed!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Fall of Greatness
The fall of greatness comes
When one believes himself the best
He sees his quest uncontested...
And he second guesses the foe he shuns!
The fall of greatness comes.
Suspicion rides a guilty back,
Who announces the enemy prepares for attack!
When even the boarders aren't secure!
How much of this nonsense can people endure?
The fall of greatness comes.
And only the ones who lie can be blamed.
A culture of crooks whose strategies are lame.
And they claim themselves to be superior to who?
They took a gamble and lost!
Losing integrity to a dollar and their credibility too!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Greatness is a spiritual condition worthy to excite love, interest, and admiration; and the outward proof of possessing greatness is that we excite love, interest, and admiration.
quote by Matthew Arnold
Submitted by anonym
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Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.
quote by William Shakespeare
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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Extendibly Kept
Greatness declared,
Seems almost too simple to say.
Too simple to adorn that which isn't...
With such a high placed esteem.
Greatness just to say,
With few ways of it expressed.
Seems as if a parody,
Of what isn't there with wishes it could be.
A greatness achieved and extendibly kept,
Takes a constant self reflection.
And a careful watching of one's steps.
A greatness achieved and extendibly kept,
Takes repeated self examination.
With a wanting always to do one's best.
Greatness declared,
Seems almost too simple to say.
Too simple to adorn that which isn't...
With such a high placed esteem.
Greatness just to say,
With few ways of it expressed.
Seems as if a parody,
Of what isn't there with wishes it could be...
Forever peceived and to others believed.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Reaching The Pinnacle
Greatness!
And reaching the pinnacle,
Of fame and success...
Obtained carefully and taken by steps.
Can leave one unsuspecting...
Breathless.
And insecure at such a lofty height.
But that greatness achieved,
Is not a timeless annointment...
To be left to go unchecked.
Without a truth one should face,
With all that there is centered upon it...
To maintain as greatness is accomplished.
Can never be disrespected or it eventually fades.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Our Own Greatness
We do not need kingdoms
To be kings, we do not need
Lands and money to be rich
And be powerful and be famous
And be great to the eyes of men
We only need our simple selves
At peace within our hearts
Admiring the greatness of God
And His Wondrous creations
We only need this humble humanity
Inside us always looking at the
Others’ mysteries always thinking
The true world beyond us on this journey
Our own greatness lies in our being ourselves
Knowing what we are and fulfilling the purpose
Of why we are here and what we are destined to be...there
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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The Worship Of Greatness
The worship of Greatness
My lifelong sin
Will be taken with me to the grave-
I loved my father too much
For whom his own Greatness
Or more
Failure in achieving it
Was all and all.
And I his would – be justifier and redeemer
I too in the lifelong tilting at windmills
Now ready to go down to my final and forever silence
Wept perhaps, but more
Unhonored and unsung.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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From Where Shall I Greatness Buy?
Mom tells me to finish my homework quickly,
When I ask why? , she tells me
“You should become great as great as your dad”.
When I ask, where is my dad Mom?
She tells me, “He is now god’s guest.”
Again when I ask Mom,
“Can I not become great by being the god’s guest”?
She slaps me gently and tells me,
“Now just shut up and get your homework done”.
Little later when I ask she says,
“Your Dad fought like a tiger,
risking his life, he never bothered.
His gun has brought him greatness
and the honour of being the god’s guest.
Again when I ask,
“Do people become great when they fight”?
If so, I will beat in the school,
My friend Philip, with my might.”
Now, Mom calls me stupid and gives me a push.
Crying I go to sleep in her lap,
Now she says, “Tomorrow I will
give you pocket money for ice-cream”.
Wiping my eyes when I ask,
Mom! ”Can I by saving pocket money,
try greatness buy”?
Tell Mom, “From where shall I greatness buy”?
She tells, “Oh god help me”
and begins to cry.
poem by Dr. Sandeep Kumar Kar
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We shall never resolve the enigma of the relation between the negative foundations of greatness and that greatness itself.
quote by Jean Baudrillard
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Greatness sympathises with greatness, and littleness shrinks into itself.
William Hazlitt in Pleasure of Hating
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Greatness, in order to gain recognition, must all too often consent to ape greatness.
quote by Jean Rostand
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The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.
quote by John Buchan
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Whoever pursues fame and greatness, they flee from him; whoever shuns greatness, it comes after him.