--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ... he was taking a stab at greatness…" description: "\"“... he was taking a stab at greatness, that is, if greatness is simply another word for doing something different from what you were already doing — o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64b/brock-clarke-11266_quote_he-was-taking-a-stab-at-greatness-that-i_545461.jpg" --- # ... he was taking a stab at greatness, that is, if… ![“... he was taking a stab at greatness, that is, if greatness is simply another word for doing something different from what you were already doing — or maybe greatness is the thing we want to have so that other people will want to have us, or maybe greatness is merely the grail for our unhappy…” quote by Brock Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64b/brock-clarke-11266_quote_he-was-taking-a-stab-at-greatness-that-i_545461.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64b/brock-clarke-11266_quote_he-was-taking-a-stab-at-greatness-that-i_545461.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64b/brock-clarke-11266_quote_he-was-taking-a-stab-at-greatness-that-i_545461.jpg) > ““... he was taking a stab at greatness, that is, if greatness is simply another word for doing something different from what you were already doing — or maybe greatness is the thing we want to have so that other people will want to have us, or maybe greatness is merely the grail for our unhappy, striving selves, the thing we think we need, but don't and can't get anyway.”” [Brock Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-clarke/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Greatness is pursued as a means to gain approval, yet it remains an elusive, possibly unattainable ideal. **In simple terms:** People chase greatness for validation, but it may be impossible. Key Takeaway Question the true motive behind your ambitions. Themes ambition validation illusion Mood introspective critical Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career planning - creative projects - personal growth Key Concepts self-worth societal pressure existential desire Questions to Reflect On - What would you do if you stopped seeking others’ approval? - Is the pursuit of greatness harming your wellbeing? A Different Perspective Greatness may be defined by external expectations rather than intrinsic value. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) ## Related quotes > [“When I was a boy, I would read those postcards and know exactly why my father was doing what he was doing: he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-clarke/when-i-was-a-boy-i-would-read-those-postcards-and-know-exactly-why-my/) [Brock Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-clarke/) > [I wouldn't mind taking a stab at... I'd love to take a shot at 'Doctor Strange' at some point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-waid/i-wouldn-t-mind-taking-a-stab-at-i-d-love-to-take-a-shot-at-doctor/) [Mark Waid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-waid/) > [ Maybe the greatness we heard in \[Richard Manuel\]'s voice, that catch in it, came from all that pain. To this day, we don't really… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/levon-helm/maybe-the-greatness-we-heard-in-richard-manuel-s-voice-that-catch-in/) [Levon Helm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/levon-helm/) > [True greatness merely refuses to change in the face of bad actions against one—and a truly great person loves his fellows because he understands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-ron-hubbard/true-greatness-merely-refuses-to-change-in-the-face-of-bad-actions/) [L. Ron Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-ron-hubbard/) > [Great nations don't have to remind others of their greatness. They merely have to be great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-parker/great-nations-don-t-have-to-remind-others-of-their-greatness-they/) [Kathleen Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-parker/) > [“So maybe greatness isn’t about being immortal, or glorious, or popular – it’s about choosing to fight for the greater good of the world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-colfer/so-maybe-greatness-isn-t-about-being-immortal-or-glorious-or-popular/) [Chris Colfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-colfer/) > [We are distracted from our greatness because are greatness is what scares us. Right where you are…God is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iyanla-vanzant/we-are-distracted-from-our-greatness-because-are-greatness-is-what/) [Iyanla Vanzant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iyanla-vanzant/) > [Of what is great one must either be silent or speak with greatness. 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The only thing we need to do is to find it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniyal-akram/we-all-have-potential-for-greatness-in-ourselves-the-only-thing-we/) Daniyal Akram > [When you are in the company of greatness, there is only one thing to do: to raise your game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-steyn/when-you-are-in-the-company-of-greatness-there-is-only-one-thing-to/) [Dale Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-steyn/) > [True greatness, first of all, is a thing of the heart. It is alive with robust and generous sympathies. It is neither behind its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roswell-dwight-hitchcock/true-greatness-first-of-all-is-a-thing-of-the-heart-it-is-alive-with/) [Roswell Dwight Hitchcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roswell-dwight-hitchcock/) > [“For this is the only power I have, to bestow upon my father the mantle of greatness, a thing he sought in the wider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-wallace/for-this-is-the-only-power-i-have-to-bestow-upon-my-father-the-mantle/) [Daniel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-wallace/) > [“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. Your fate awaits you. Accept it in body and spirit.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/some-are-born-great-some-achieve-greatness-and-some-have-greatness/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) ## More by Brock Clarke > [“I didn't normally talk this way: but sometimes you have to pretend to be an innocent child to learn something about the complicated world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-clarke/i-didn-t-normally-talk-this-way-but-sometimes-you-have-to-pretend-to/) [Brock Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-clarke/) > [“Can a story be good only if it produces an effect? If the effect is a bad one, but intended, has the story done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-clarke/can-a-story-be-good-only-if-it-produces-an-effect-if-the-effect-is-a/) [Brock Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-clarke/) > [ “They \[my eyes\] immediately started to tear up, tears being your eyes' way of forbidding you to look away,of forcing you to look at… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-clarke/they-my-eyes-immediately-started-to-tear-up-tears-being-your-eyes-way/) [Brock Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-clarke/) > [“I think, that love endures, but that it isn't everything, and it isn't ever what we want it to be...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-clarke/i-think-that-love-endures-but-that-it-isn-t-everything-and-it-isn-t/) [Brock Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-clarke/) > [“When he did that, I didn't hate him anymore, I really didn't, and maybe this is why people do so many hateful things to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-clarke/when-he-did-that-i-didn-t-hate-him-anymore-i-really-didn-t-and-maybe/) [Brock Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-clarke/) > [“They looked at each other for a while their gazes steady, unblinking. 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Your future is in the hands of the Lord.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/you-are-destiny-for-greatness-your-future-is-in-the-hands-of-the-lord/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/we-need-to-discover-all-over-again-that-worship-is-natural-to-the/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/nothing-brings-out-the-lower-traits-of-human-nature-like-office/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [Men generally decide upon a middle course, which is most hazardous, for they know neither how to be entirely good nor entirely bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/men-generally-decide-upon-a-middle-course-which-is-most-hazardous-for/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Every man remembers his childhood as a kind of mythical age, just as every nation's childhood is its mythical age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/every-man-remembers-his-childhood-as-a-kind-of-mythical-age-just-as/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [Greatness is not guarding yourself from people. Greatness is being accepted by the people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/greatness-is-not-guarding-yourself-from-people-greatness-is-being/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [The superior man is distressed by his want (lack) of ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/the-superior-man-is-distressed-by-his-want-lack-of-ability/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Great men don't 'move to the center' - great men move the center!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/great-men-don-t-move-to-the-center-great-men-move-the-center/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Perfection is the enemy of greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/perfection-is-the-enemy-of-greatness/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [Men want a challenge, but they want a challenge they can win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-gaskell/men-want-a-challenge-but-they-want-a-challenge-they-can-win/) Whitney Gaskell [Browse all 7,631 Greatness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“... he was taking a stab at greatness, that is, if greatness is simply another word for doing something different from what you were already doing — or maybe greatness is the thing we want to have so that other people will want to have us, or maybe greatness is merely the grail for our unhappy, striving selves, the thing we think we need, but don't and can't get anyway.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brock Clarke" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-clarke/he-was-taking-a-stab-at-greatness-that-is-if-greatness-is-simply/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Greatness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-clarke/he-was-taking-a-stab-at-greatness-that-is-if-greatness-is-simply/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64b/brock-clarke-11266_quote_he-was-taking-a-stab-at-greatness-that-i_545461.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64b/brock-clarke-11266_quote_he-was-taking-a-stab-at-greatness-that-i_545461.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64b/brock-clarke-11266_quote_he-was-taking-a-stab-at-greatness-that-i_545461.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“... he was taking a stab at greatness, that is, if greatness is simply another word for doing something…” — Brock Clarke", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Brock Clarke", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-clarke/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“... he was taking a stab...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-clarke/he-was-taking-a-stab-at-greatness-that-is-if-greatness-is-simply/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-clarke/he-was-taking-a-stab-at-greatness-that-is-if-greatness-is-simply/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```