It's because I haven't courage, ' said Samuel. 'I could never quite take the responsibility. When the Lord God did not call my name, I might have called his name - but I did not. There you have the difference between greatness and mediocrity. It's not an uncommon disease. But it's nice for a mediocre man to know that greatness must be the loneliest state in the world.'' I'd think there are degrees of greatness, ' Adam said.' I don't think so, ' said Samuel. 'That would be like saying there is a little bigness. No. I believe when you come to that responsibility the hugeness and you are alone to make your choice. On one side you have warmth and companionship and sweet understanding, and on the other - cold, lonely greatness. There you make your choice. I'm glad I chose mediocrity, but how am I to say what reward might have come with the other? None of my children will be great either, except perhaps Tom. He's suffering over the choosing right now. It's a painful thing to watch. And somewhere in me I want him to say yes. Isn't that strange? A father to want his son condemned to greatness! What selfishness that must be. . John Steinbeck
What's your heart telling you to do? I don't know.' Maybe, you're trying too hard to hear it.
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Nicholas Sparks
The worst thing in life is having parents that always stand against you and never with you. They discourage you, instill fear in you, hold you back, push you down and never encourage you to fly forward. When I have kids, they'll already be born...
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Suzy Kassem
He knew only that his child was his warrant. He said: If he is not the word of God God never spoke.
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Cormac McCarthy
I'm convinced that most men don't know what they believe, rather, they only know what they wish to believe. How many people blame God for man's atrocities, but wouldn't dream of imprisoning a mother for her son's crime?
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Criss Jami
I often wonder if God recognizes His own son the way we've dressed him up, or is it dressed him down?
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Ray Bradbury
More Quotes By John Steinbeck
What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.
It has always seemed strange to me... The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of...
Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.
Muscles aching to work, minds aching to create - this is man.
Tom felt his darkness. His father was beautiful and clever, his mother was short and mathematically sure. Each of his brothers and sisters had looks or gifts or fortune. Tom loved all of them passionately, but he felt heavy and earth-bound. <span style="margin:15px; display:block"></span>He climbed...
