“No sadder proof can be given by a man of his own littleness than disbelief in great men.”
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher
1840s, Heroes and Hero-Worship (1840), The Hero as Divinity
“The chief proof of man's real greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness.”
Source: The Sign of Four
Last update June 3, 2021. History
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Arthur Conan Doyle166
Scottish physician and author 1859–1930Related quotes
John Hall (1829–1898) Presbyterian pastor from Northern Ireland in New York, died 1898
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 411.
“Feelings are self-justifying, with a set of perceptions and "proofs" all their own.”
Daniel Goleman (1946) American psychologist & journalist
Source: Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ (1995), p. 295
“Boredom lies only with the traveler's limited perception and his failure to explore deeply enough.”
William Least Heat-Moon book Blue Highways
Part Seven, Chapter 7.
Blue Highways (1982)
Context: Boredom lies only with the traveler's limited perception and his failure to explore deeply enough. After a while, I found my perception limited.
George Fitzhugh (1806–1881) American activist
Source: Sociology For The South: Or The Failure Of A Free Society (1854), p. 69
“How small man is on this little atom where he dies! But how great his intelligence!”
François-René de Chateaubriand book Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe
Book XLII: Ch. 18: A summary of the changes which have occurred around the globe in my lifetime
Mémoires d'outre-tombe (1848 – 1850)
Context: How small man is on this little atom where he dies! But how great his intelligence! He knows when the face of the stars must be masked in darkness, when the comets will return after thousands of years, he who lasts only an instant! A microscopic insect lost in a fold of the heavenly robe, the orbs cannot hide from him a single one of their movements in the depth of space. What destinies will those stars, new to us, light? Is their revelation bound up with some new phase of humanity? You will know, race to be born; I know not, and I am departing.