It’s easy to deprecate some of the puffery and jingoism that often go with affirmations of ‘American greatness.’ It’s also easy to confuse greatness with perfection, as if evidence of our shortcomings is proof of our mediocrity.
Stick to your true north – build greatness for the long term.
Barack Obama’s political roots are liberal, but he has always resisted buying into the brand of liberalism that denigrates American greatness and potential.
Protection and patriotism are reciprocal. This is the way which has led nations to greatness.
The past always seems somehow more golden, more serious, than the present. We tend to forget the partisanship of yesteryear, preferring to re-imagine our history as a sure and steady march toward greatness.
Always in all my books I’m trying to reveal or help to reveal the hidden greatness of the small, of the little, of the unknown – and the pettiness of the big.
A child does not notice the greatness and the beauty of nature and the splendor of God in his works.
Maybe the real secret to America’s greatness is that we hate one another.
Investment in public infrastructure is key to America’s greatness and essential to our national security.
I’m paving the road for other women and men who know they’re destined for greatness, but they don’t believe it yet.
It’s always about staying competitive with myself… Popularity is something that may happen from time to time, and I don’t trust it and I don’t think it means too much. I’m going for greatness.
We are poised for greatness here in Miramar, our foundation is sound, the question is what are we going to do with the foundation?
Inaugural speeches are supposed to be huge and stirring. Presidents haul our heroes onstage, from George Washington to Martin Luther King Jr. George W. Bush brought the Liberty Bell. They use history to make greatness and achievements seem like something you can just take down from the shelf.
To achieve greatness one should live as if they will never die.
Whoever renders service to many puts himself in line for greatness – great wealth, great return, great satisfaction, great reputation, and great joy.
When they did the Olympics in Seoul – or elsewhere – didn’t each host country try to show its greatness to the world viewing audience?
Biographies are no longer written to explain or explore the greatness of the great. They redress balances, explore secret weaknesses, demolish legends.
I admire Sachin Tendulkar for being one of the best role models for young cricketers, and no one in Pakistan even doubts his greatness, as his records speak for himself.
I’m not afraid of taking long walks. A lot of people want to be great, but they want to cheat to get to the greatness. I’m cool with talking the walk around the block to get to where I want to go as opposed to the cheat, because the cheat has flaws.
For the most part, boys are very physical. It’s not enough for them to be told they have what it takes and they have greatness. They have to discover for themselves. We learn by doing. The doing has to be somewhat physical.
I am so excited to have created a line that has been inspired by my culture – showing its color, its passion and its greatness – and one that captures much of my personal style.
I believe that history has shape, order, and meaning; that exceptional men, as much as economic forces, produce change; and that passe abstractions like beauty, nobility, and greatness have a shifting but continuing validity.
I continue to have a special pride and passion for AOL, and I strongly believe that AOL – once the leading Internet company in the world – can return to its past greatness.
Part of the greatness of being on the Island is it’s a smaller community; all of the players live within a couple miles of each other. It really promotes that family sort of atmosphere without being engulfed by the big city.
Big Rube was on my first album and some of my mixtapes. His words are so powerful. I want to speak every word he says into existence. I wanna be a part of that! I wanna be a part of greatness. His wordplay is great to me.
I believe in our country’s greatness.
When I think of greatness, I think of guys like Earl Campbell and Gale Sayers and Walter Payton, and these individuals who, it’s unanimous they’re going to make a difference – when they’re coming out of college, there’s no doubt.
A lot has been written and said about why he was so great, but I think the best way to appreciate his greatness is just to go back and play some of the old records. Time has a way of being very unkind to old records, but Elvis’ keep getting better and better.
American greatness can be further unlocked if opportunity is expanded to all people within its borders.
I want to go out and chase greatness. That’s all I want to do.
Through protest – especially in the 1950s and ’60s – we, as a people, touched greatness. Protest, not immigration, was our way into the American Dream. Freedom in this country had always been relative to race, and it was black protest that made freedom an absolute.
I think greatness is found within mundanity, those boring little ticks throughout the day.
It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.
Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition he or she has overcome to reach his goals.
The acid test of any legal system is not the greatness or the grandeur of its ideal concepts, but whether, in fact, it is able to produce order and justice.
Success can allow you to try for greatness, can give you an opportunity to take a chance on something. I’m very blessed to have the success that I’ve had, and that’s given me so many opportunities to work on being great.
Remember, America’s greatness is based on creating wealth like the rest of the world has never known, and then, making sure it’s shared throughout a middle class and even the underprivileged.
For a writer, personal freedom is not so important. It is not individual freedom that guarantees the greatness of literature; otherwise, writers in democratic countries would be superior to all others. Some of the greatest writers wrote under dictatorship – Shakespeare, Cervantes.
The real test of business greatness is in giving opportunity to others. Many business men fail in this because they are thinking only of personal glory.
The Black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness.
Is there not some chosen curse, some hidden thunder in the stores of heaven, red with uncommon wrath, to blast the man who owes his greatness to his country’s ruin!
Greatness and fiasco is the same. You’re reaching for something just out of your grasp, and if you get it, it’s great, and if you don’t, it’s a disaster.
Great men lose somewhat of their greatness by being near us; ordinary men gain much.
Greatness and goodness are not means, but ends.
Monuments and archaeological pieces serve as testimonies of man’s greatness and establish a dialogue between civilizations showing the extent to which human beings are linked.
I think America is in trouble, but it’s not beyond repair. But it’s going to take leadership who sees the greatness of this country and who believes that, once again, we can be one nation under God.
I kind of feel like God took away Metro Station and the greatness there so I could settle down and have my love life.
I’m a basketball fan, I’m a fan of greatness and I think anybody who knows anything about basketball knows great shooters.
My fellow Minnesotans join me in mourning the loss of America’s 40th President and celebrating the life of a man who personified both the greatness and goodness of America.
We can’t look for greatness in the past.
Leadership and greatness comes to those who follow-through. Who stand for near-flawless execution.
There is as much greatness of mind in acknowledging a good turn, as in doing it.
I’m happy to have been around greatness like Kendrick Lamar.
Only in America can someone start with nothing and achieve the American Dream. That’s the greatness of this country.
Passing my motorcycle theory test gave me a disproportionate feeling of greatness.
The greatest lesson I’ve learned is that you have to fight and continue to strive for greatness, as nothing great ever comes easily.
You were designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.
Goodness does not consist in greatness, but greatness in goodness.
Greatness can never be over because you can lay it down for a minute.
Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation – not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy. Our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago.
I went to the Gobi Desert, even though I had no scenes there. This is the greatness of China, the landscape, even for us.
You can never let anything distract you from your main objective. My only goal is to be great. That’s all I want. That’s all I ever aspire to be. Greatness is something nobody can ever take away from you, no matter what happens. So I put all my energy and focus into my craft.
We are running ourselves into a damaged earth. But I am optimistic. I believe that we can change; we must change. As a human race, we are very young and quite primitive. The sooner we learn the greatness of humanity the better off we will all be.
