Greatness is it being the best at something? Being the biggest? Being the most influential? Being the most popular? For some, greatness might be having a great family, being successful in their career, or making a difference in the world. But for others, greatness might be something more personal. For them, greatness might be being kind, being compassionate, or being honest.
Greatness is something that is earned, not given. It requires effort, sacrifice, and hard work. It takes a lot of courage to be great, and it takes a lot of humility to know that you aren’t always perfect.
80 Greatness Quotes
- “Good and great are seldom in the same man.” – Winston S. Churchill
2. “No one has ever achieved greatness without dreams.” – Roy T. Bennett
3. “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” – Albert Einstein
4. “Great men are not born great, they grow great.” – Mario Puzo
5. “Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so.” – Charles de Gaulle
6. “Great leaders can see the greatness in others when they can’t see it themselves and lead them to their highest potential they don’t even know.” – Roy T. Bennett
7. “Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service.” – Martin Luther King Jr
8. “We are what we repeatedly do. Greatness then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle
9. “The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure criticism without resentment.” – Elbert Hubbard
10. “You were designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.” – Zig Ziglar
Greatness Quotes About Life
11. “The greatest men are the ones that realize they are not.” – Craig D. Lounsbrough
12. “Sometimes it takes great suffering to pierce the soul and open it up to greatness” – Jocelyn Murray
13. “A great man is always willing to be little.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
14. “There is some greatness in each of us but it cannot fully emerge unless we are tested by adversity.” – C.A.A. Savastano
15. “The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness” – Pope Benedict XVI
16. “Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.” – William Shakespeare
17. “Greatness depends on where you are coming from.” – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
18. “If a man has any greatness in him, it comes to light, not in one flamboyant hour, but in the ledger of his daily work.” – Beryl Markham
19. “It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.” – Seneca
20. “Doing what needs to be done may not make you happy, but it will make you great.” – George Bernard Shaw
Famous Greatness Quotes
21. “Learn what you need to learn and do what is necessary for you to attain greatness.” – Gift Gugu Mona
22. “When you’re good at something, you’ll tell everyone. When you’re great at something, they’ll tell you.” – Walter Payton
23. “Walking in greatness is getting close enough to that vision that you can walk inside of it.” – Niedria Kenny
24. “Greatness can never be achieved when you fight only the battles you know you can win but in fighting battles that have greatness embedded in them.” – Ikechukwu Izuakor
25. “Greatness is a choice.” – Nike
26. “Struggles and tribulations sow the seeds for greatness.” – Dr. Billy Alsbrooks
27. “You were put on this earth to achieve your greatest self, to live out your purpose, and to do it courageously.” – Steve Marabol
28. “Greatness is supreme, it takes the spirit of a true champion to pursue it.” Wayne Chirisa
29. “The loves and sorrows that are great are destroyed by their own plentitude.” – Oscar Wilde
30. “True obedience requires greatness and inward freedom of soul.” – Gertrud von le Fort
Inspirational Quotes About Greatness
31. “You must remain focused on your journey to greatness.” – Les Brown
32. “To seek greatness is the only righteous vengeance.” – Criss Jami
33. “The change will not be brought by rich or powerful people, but great minds will absolutely do”- Anath Lee Wales
34. “If you’re reading this, I hope God opens incredible doors for your life this year. Greatness is upon you. You must believe it though.” – Germany Kent
35. “We need to get acquainted with mediocrity to notice greatness.” – Olivier Magny
36. “Some are born great. Some achieve greatness. Some get it as a graduation gift.” – Robin Williams
37. “Greatness is always a byproduct of an obsession.” – Mokokoma Mokhonoana
38. “The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.” – John Buchan
39. “The greatest people are ‘great’ because they’re willing to admit their greatest faults.” – Craig D. Lounsbrough
40. “A great chessplayer is not a great man, for he leaves the world as he found it.” – William Hazlitt
Motivational Greatness Quotes
41. “You don’t have to be the greatest, but become the person for whom even the greatest will fear” – Ahemad R Kazi
42. “Whoever renders service to many, puts himself in line for greatness.” – Jim Rohn
43. “Greatness is achieved when you feel you have it. The validation is only yours to give, no one else’s.” – Saim .A. Cheeda
44. “Great leaders help in building teams that work as one entity, trying to achieve the same common goal.” – Pooja Agnihotri
45. “Greatness begins with the active pursuit of improvement.” – Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr
46. “The mark of a great man is one who knows when to set aside the important things in order to accomplish the vital ones.” – Brandon Sanderson
47. “Greatness lies not in ruling a people, it lies in being the cause of happiness in their lives.” – Abhijit Naskar
48. “Greats are great only because they believe in what they say, sand say what they believe in.” – Sandeep Sahajpal
49. “Some men are destined for greatness, other men are destined for marriage.” – Jack Freestone
50. “Greatness comes by beginning something that doesn’t end with you.” – Robin Sharma
Quotes To Inspire You To Strive For Greatness
51. “Greatness is like a wall the moment you break a brick you start falling; And if not rebuilt you will fall flat” -Topsy Gift
52. “Greatness and Success belong to those who believe in their being” – Ephantus Mwenda
53. “Greatness is finding minds that are more productive than yours, that’s what I can “boundless”.” – Alan Maiccon
54. “When you are destined for greatness, it shows in everything you do. It becomes you. Greatness becomes you.” – Lorii Myers
55. “Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” – Dwayne Johnson
56. “Greatness is a property for which no man can receive credit too soon; it must be possessed long before it is acknowledged.” – Emerson
57. “I was never afraid of failure; for I would sooner fail than not be among the greatest.” – John Keats
58. “God is too great, even technology cannot replace His greatness.” – Gift Gugu Mona
59. “When you succeed you party. When you fail you ponder. Greatness comes from pondering.” – Tony Robbins
60. “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” – Mark Twain
Focus Quotes to Inspire Greatness
61. “Run away from greatness and greatness will follow you.” – Abu Bakr
62. “Ambition is never content, even at the summit of greatness.” – Allison Pataki
63. “I think the definition of greatness is to inspire the people next to you.” – Kobe Bryant
64. “Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
65. “Greatness is not a destination, but a sense of Elation.” – Armin Houman
66. “Man’s greatness lies in his power of thought.” – Blaise Pascal
67. “If you keep standing on the verge of greatness, you’ll eventually get the opportunity to leap into it.” – Curtis Tyrone Jone
68. “Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right use of strength.” – Henry Ward Beecher
69. “The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.” – Bob Marley
70. “He or she is greatest who contributes the greatest original practical example.” – Walt Whitman
Best Goals Quotes To Help You Achieve Greatness
71. “We must dare to be great; and we must realize that greatness is the fruit of toil and sacrifice and high courage.” – Theodore Roosevelt
72. “Greatness comes from the inside and once you believe you have it, it’s yours to share with the world.” – Chris Burkmenn
73. “Believe in your greatness. Because what you believe is what you become.” – Udai Yadla
74. “If you want to be great, do not focus on being average.” – Dr. Mansur Hasib
75. “Greatness isn’t found in your comfort zone.” – Sharon Pearson
76. “Greatness exists in all of us.” – Will Smith
77. “Greatness is finding minds that are more productive than yours, that’s what I can boundless.” – Alan Maiccon
78. “I used my pain to push me to greatness.” – Eric Thomas
79. “Greatness comes from fear. Fear can either shut us down and we go home, or we fight through it.” – Lionel Richie
80. “Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition, he or she has overcome to reach his goals.” – Dorothy Height
Additional Read: 8 Ways to Achieve Greatness