Small Man Quotes

• 

  A great man is hard on himself; a small man is hard on others.

  Confucius

  Men, Great Men, Hard

  398 Copy quote

• When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.

  Napoleon Bonaparte

  Live Life, Men, Mediocrity

  Napoleon Bonaparte “Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut”, Рипол Классик

  13 Copy quote

  Show source

• The small man thinks that small acts of goodness are of no benefit, and does not do them; and that small deeds of evil do no harm, and does not refrain from them. Hence, his wickedness becomes so great that it cannot be concealed, and his guilt so great that it cannot be pardoned.

  Confucius

  Men, Thinking, Small Acts

  13 Copy quote

• A gentleman can see a question from all sides without bias.
  The small man is biased and can see a question only from one side.

  Confucius

  Men, Gentleman, Sides

  Confucius “The Analects”, W. W. Norton & Company

  21 Copy quote

  Show source

• The gentleman is calm and at ease. The gentleman is dignified but not proud; the small man is proud but not dignified.

  Confucius

  Men, Gentleman, Ease

  9 Copy quote

• Ofttimes a very small man can cast a very large shadow.

  George R. R. Martin

  Men, Shadow, Thrones

  George R. R. Martin (2012). “George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones 5-Book Boxed Set (Song of Ice and Fire Series): A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, and and A Dance with Dragons”, p.810, Bantam

  7 Copy quote

  Show source
• 

  This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.

  Neil Armstrong

  Motivational, Positive, Moon

  In New York Times 31 July 1969, p. 20

  161 Copy quote

  Show source
• 

  Small men, seeking great wealth or power, have too often and too long turned even the highest levels of public service into mere personal opportunity.

  Barry Goldwater

  Opportunity, Men, Long

  Speech Accepting the Republican Presidential Nomination, delivered 16 July 1964, San Francisco

  76 Copy quote

  Show source

• The end of the day is near when small men make long shadows.

  Confucius

  Men, Long, The End Of The Day

  9 Copy quote

• The gentleman calls attention to the good points in others; he does not call attention to their defects. The small man does just the reverse of this.

  Confucius

  Men, Gentleman, Doe

  Confucius “The Analects”, W. W. Norton & Company

  29 Copy quote

  Show source

• A man without a sense of purpose, even one whose bank accounts are stuffed with money, is always a small man.

  Stephen King

  Men, Purpose, Bank Accounts

  Stephen King (2014). “Under the Dome: Part 1: A Novel”, p.462, Simon and Schuster

  6 Copy quote

  Show source

• Coupled with Usury, Unrestricted Competition destroys the small man for the profit of the great and in so doing produces that mass of economically unfree citizens whose very political freedom comes in question because it has no foundation in any economic freedom, that is, any useful proportion of property to support it. Political freedom without economic freedom is almost worthless, and it is because the modern proletariat has the one kind of freedom without the other that its rebellion is now threatening the very structure of the modern world.

  Hilaire Belloc

  Wisdom, Men, Support

  42 Copy quote

• The larger the unit of capital present, the easier the transaction called emission of credit. Centralized lending of this kind (which is today universal) actively promotes the absorption of the small man by the great, the reduction of small property owners to a proletarian condition.

  Hilaire Belloc

  Wisdom, Men, Credit

  Hilaire Belloc (2016). “The Crisis Of Civilization”, p.97, TAN Books

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I do, and I hunt. I like small horses best. They're like small men. They have more to prove so they take all the more risks and jump higher and faster than all the rest.

  Sienna Guillory

  Horse, Men, Risk

  "This Cultural Life: Sienna Guillory". The Independent on Sunday, May 23, 2004.

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• Politics is ugly. Never doubt what small men will do for great power.

  Paolo Bacigalupi

  Men, Doubt, Ugly

  "The Windup Girl". Book by Paolo Bacigalupi, 2009.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I am for the small man who has not forgotten, for the man who loves his beer and his women and his sunlight

  Charles Bukowski

  Beer, Men, Forgotten

  9 Copy quote

• The proper man understands equity, the small man profits.

  Confucius

  Education, Men, Profit

  Confucius (1956). “Confucian analects”, Commodius Vicus

  6 Copy quote

  Show source
• 

  Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it.

  Muhammad Ali

  Inspirational, Change, Power

  Muhammad Ali (2016). “Muhammad Ali Unfiltered: Rare, Iconic, and Officially Authorized Photos of the Greatest”, p.118, Simon and Schuster

  194 Copy quote

  Show source

• Small men oft feel a need to prove their courage with unseemly boasts," he declared. "I doubt if he could kill a duck." Tyrion shrugged. "Fetch the duck.

  George R. R. Martin

  Men, Ducks, Doubt

  George R. R. Martin (2011). “A Dance with Dragons: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Five”, p.137, Bantam

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• To a small man every greater is an exaggeration.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Men, Exaggeration Is, Greater

  Henry David Thoreau (2013). “The Selected Essays of Henry David Thoreau”, p.95, Simon and Schuster

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• All small men, all non-power hitters, must learn to bunt well. It's half your game.

  Nellie Fox

  Men, Games, Half

  7 Copy quote

• When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set.

  Lin Yutang

  Business, Mean, Men

  "Hard-to-Solve Cryptograms" by Derrick Niederman, (p. 96), 2001.

  48 Copy quote

  Show source

• You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot lift the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending

  William J. H. Boetcker

  Strong, Men, Libertarian

  "The Industrial Decalogue" (1916). These "ten cannots" are frequently, but falsely, attributed to Abraham Lincoln.

  29 Copy quote

  Show source

• The gentleman sees what is right while the small man sees what is profitable.

  Confucius

  Men, Gentleman, Profitable

  10 Copy quote

• The small man builds cages for everyone he knows While the sage, who has to duck his head when the moon is low, Keeps dropping keys all night long For the beautiful rowdy prisoners.

  Hafez

  Beautiful, Spiritual, Wisdom

  223 Copy quote