“These little things are great to little man.”
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) Irish physician and writer
Source: The Traveller (1764), Line 42.
“A great man is always willing to be little.”
1840s, Essays: First Series (1841), Compensation
Context: Our strength grows out of our weakness. The indignation which arms itself with secret forces does not awaken until we are pricked and stung and sorely assailed. A great man is always willing to be little. Whilst he sits on the cushion of advantages, he goes to sleep. When he is pushed, tormented, defeated, he has a chance to learn something; he has been put on his wits, on his manhood; he has gained facts; learns his ignorance; is cured of the insanity of conceit; has got moderation and real skill. The wise man throws himself on the side of his assailants. It is more his interest than it is theirs to find his weak point. The wound cicatrizes and falls off from him like a dead skin, and when they would triumph, lo! he has passed on invulnerable. Blame is safer than praise. I hate to be defended in a newspaper. As long as all that is said is said against me, I feel a certain assurance of success. But as soon as honeyed words of praise are spoken for me, I feel as one that lies unprotected before his enemies. In general, every evil to which we do not succumb is a benefactor.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson727
American philosopher, essayist, and poet 1803–1882Related quotes
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) American politician, 28th president of the United States (in office from 1913 to 1921)
Statement on the successful filibuster by anti-war Senators against a bill to arm merchant ships (4 March 1917)
1910s
Henry Fountain Ashurst (1874–1962) United States Senator from Arizona
"Ashurst, Defeated, Reviews Service". New York Times (September 12, 1940), p. 18.
“The great man, then, knows when and in what he is a little man.”
Wilhelm Reich book Listen, Little Man!
Listen, Little Man! (1948)
Context: You are different from the really great man in only one thing: The great man, at one time, also was a very little man, but he developed one important ability: he learned to see where he was small in his thinking, and actions. Under the pressure of some task which was dear to him he learned better and better to sense the threat that comes from his smallness and pettiness. The great man, then, knows when and in what he is a little man.
“Man is always a little at fault, that’s all.”
Imre Kertész book Kaddish for an Unborn Child
Kaddish for a Child Not Born (1990)
Elisabeth Elliot (1926–2015) American missionary
Source: The Mark of a Man
“A great man shows his greatness by the way he treats little men.”
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher
Attributed to Carlyle in Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends And Influence People (1936), but this quotation is not found in Carlyle's known works. The first mention found in Google Books dates from 1908, where the Rev. John Timothy Stone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Timothy_Stone is quoted as claiming: 'The greatest critics of this world have been appreciators. Carlyle said, "You can discover a great man, or see a great man, by the way he treats little men.'<br>The quotation is subsequently found in slightly different forms, mostly in religious publications: "A great man shows his greatness by manner in which he treats little men" (1913, unattributed); The exact wording of Carnegie's quote suggests that it was taken from Stone's 1930 publication. <br class="br">Disputed
“You are Great, Little Man, when you are not small and petty.”
Wilhelm Reich book Listen, Little Man!
Listen, Little Man! (1948)
Context: You are Great, Little Man, when you are not small and petty. You are great when you carry on your trade lovingly, when you enjoy carving and building and painting and decorating and sowing, when you enjoy the blue sky and the deer and the dew and music and dancing, your growing children and the beautiful body of your woman or your man, when you learn to understand and think about life.
“A good big man will always beat a small little punk.”
Bobby Heenan (1944–2017) American professional wrestler, professional wrestling commentator and manager
Source: World Wrestling Federation (1984-1993), Survivor Series (1993)