Pride is founded not on the sense of happiness, but on the sense of power.
William HazlittRead
No man is truly great who is great only in his lifetime. The test of greatness is the page of history.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True greatness is recognized over time, not merely during one's life.
This quote by William Hazlitt suggests that real greatness is not determined by someone's achievements or recognition in their lifetime, but rather by how history remembers them. It emphasizes the idea that lasting impact and legacy are the true measures of greatness, as opposed to fleeting fame or success that may not endure beyond an individual's lifespan.
Themes
GreatnessHistoryLegacyImpactRemembering
In practice
Example use cases
In a graduation speech to inspire students to think beyond their immediate goals.
More from William Hazlitt
All quotes βThe world loves to be amused by hollow professions, to be deceived by flattering appearances, to live in a state of hallucination; and can forgive everything but the plain, downright, simple, honest truth.
William HazlittRead
Our repugnance to death increases in proportion to our consciousness of having lived in vain.
William HazlittRead
We can bear to be deprived of everything but our self-conceit.
William HazlittRead
There are few things in which we deceive ourselves more than in the esteem we profess to entertain for our firends. It is little better than a piece of quackery. The truth is, we think of them as we please, that is, as they please or displease us.
William HazlittRead
Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is a greater. Possession pampers the mind; privation trains and strengthens it.
William HazlittRead
Similar quotes
I've been fascinated by Machiavelli since I was very young. I've always felt that he had a bad rap from history, and that he was actually a person quite unlike what we now think of as Machiavellian. He was a republican. He disliked totalitarian government.
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The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.
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Where Slavery is, there Liberty cannot be; and where Liberty is, there Slavery cannot be.
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Events, circumstances, etc., have their origin in ourselves. They spring from seeds which we have sown.
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There's no way to escape the fact that we've grown up in a violent culture, we just can't get away from it, it's part of our heritage. I think part of it is that we've always felt somewhat helpless in the face of this vast continent. Helplessness is answered in many ways, but one of them is violence.
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The rhinoceros stood ... about five hundred yards away ... not a twentieth-century animal at all, but an odd, grim straggler from the Stone Age.
Winston ChurchillRead