“Great acts are made up of small deeds.”

— Laozi

Last update Oct. 1, 2023. History

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Laozi79

semi-legendary Chinese figure, attributed to the 6th centur… -604

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“Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892–1973) British philologist and author, creator of classic fantasy works

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“For there are many great deeds done in the small struggles of life.”

Victor Hugo book Les Misérables

Source: Les Misérables

“Say not "a small event!" Why "small"?
Costs it more pain that this ye call
A "great event" should come to pass
From that? Untwine me from the mass
Of deeds which make up life, one deed
Power shall fall short in or exceed!”

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“The idea - the core idea of humanism - is that the act of reading about great deeds will lead you to imitate them,..”

Stanley Fish (1938) American academic

Source: How To Write A Sentence And How To Read One (2011), Chapter 10, Sentences That Are About Themselves (Aren't They All?), p. 137

“Great acts I reach to, to small things I bow.”

Torquato Tasso (1544–1595) Italian poet

L'alte non temo, e l'umili non sdegno. <br class="br">Canto II, stanza 46 (tr. Fairfax) <br class="br"> Variant translation https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofquot00harbuoft#page/331/mode/1up: The proud I fear not, nor the meek disdain. <br class="br">Gerusalemme Liberata (1581)