--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We must not measure greatness from the…" description: "\"We must not measure greatness from the mansion down, but from the manger up.\" — Jesse Jackson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/179/jesse-jackson-1161_greatness_we-must-not-measure-greatness-from-the-m_767402.jpg" --- # We must not measure greatness from the mansion down, but… ![“We must not measure greatness from the mansion down, but from the manger up.” quote by Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/179/jesse-jackson-1161_greatness_we-must-not-measure-greatness-from-the-m_767402.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/179/jesse-jackson-1161_greatness_we-must-not-measure-greatness-from-the-m_767402.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/179/jesse-jackson-1161_greatness_we-must-not-measure-greatness-from-the-m_767402.jpg) > “We must not measure greatness from the mansion down, but from the manger up.” [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Greatness should be judged by humility and service, not wealth or status. **In simple terms:** Measure greatness by humility, not riches. Key Takeaway Serve others, stay humble. Themes humility service greatness Mood reflective hopeful Type ethical inspirational When to use this quote - volunteering - mentoring - community service - simple living Key Concepts ethical values social justice role models Questions to Reflect On - What defines true greatness for you? - How can you recognize humble role models? A Different Perspective Societal focus on material success can obscure humble contributions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Greatness Mansion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness-mansion-5939719/) [Management](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/management/) [Mansion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mansion/) [Mansion Manger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mansion-manger-5939720/) [Measure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/measure/) [Measure Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/measure-greatness-797758/) ## Related quotes > [We must not measure greatness from the mansion down, but from the manger up. Jesus said that we should not be judged by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/we-must-not-measure-greatness-from-the-mansion-down-but-from-the/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [One can measure the greatness and the moral progress of a nation by looking at how it treats its animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/one-can-measure-the-greatness-and-the-moral-progress-of-a-nation-by/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The way I like to measure greatness is... How many people can you make want to be better?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-smith/the-way-i-like-to-measure-greatness-is-how-many-people-can-you-make/) [Will Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-smith/) > [The true measure of greatness of a human being is their ability to express love in relationship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-russell/the-true-measure-of-greatness-of-a-human-being-is-their-ability-to/) [Walter Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-russell/) > [Great men, great events, great epochs, it has been said, grow as we recede from them; and the rate at which they grow in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/great-men-great-events-great-epochs-it-has-been-said-grow-as-we/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [Adversity is another way to measure the greatness of individuals. I never had a crisis that didn't make me stronger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-holtz/adversity-is-another-way-to-measure-the-greatness-of-individuals-i/) [Lou Holtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-holtz/) > [It's only when you grow up, and step back from him, or leave him for your own career and your own home-it's only then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-truman/it-s-only-when-you-grow-up-and-step-back-from-him-or-leave-him-for/) [Margaret Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-truman/) > [Service is the measure of greatness; it always has been true; it is true today, and it always will be true, that he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-jennings-bryan/service-is-the-measure-of-greatness-it-always-has-been-true-it-is/) [William Jennings Bryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-jennings-bryan/) > [Some measure greatness by trophies and awards, but greatness will never come unless you pick yourself up off the floor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-tackett/some-measure-greatness-by-trophies-and-awards-but-greatness-will/) [Ryan Tackett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-tackett/) > [The measure of the greatness of a society is found in the way it treats those most in need, those who have nothing apart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/the-measure-of-the-greatness-of-a-society-is-found-in-the-way-it/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [A man comes to measure his greatness by the regrets, envies and hatreds of his competitors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-comes-to-measure-his-greatness-by-the-regrets-envies-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The measure of greatness in a scientific idea is the extent to which it stimulates thought and opens up new lines of research.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-dirac/the-measure-of-greatness-in-a-scientific-idea-is-the-extent-to-which/) [Paul Dirac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-dirac/) > [The thing which makes one man greater than another, the quality by which we ought to measure greatness, is a man's capacity for loving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-helps/the-thing-which-makes-one-man-greater-than-another-the-quality-by/) [Arthur Helps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-helps/) > [A people may become great through many means, but there is only one measure by which its greatness is recognized and acknowledged. The final…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-weldon-johnson/a-people-may-become-great-through-many-means-but-there-is-only-one/) [James Weldon Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-weldon-johnson/) > [Effort is a measure of a Man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/effort-is-a-measure-of-a-man/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## More by Jesse Jackson > [If my mind can conceive it ,and my heart can believe it,i known I can achieve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/if-my-mind-can-conceive-it-and-my-heart-can-believe-it-i-known-i-can/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [We reveal our joys and successes, we conceal our pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/we-reveal-our-joys-and-successes-we-conceal-our-pain/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [We blacks were the first people embracing Obama, long before the people at expensive fundraisers were supporting him. We gave him his first love,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/we-blacks-were-the-first-people-embracing-obama-long-before-the/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [The coffers are full of money and equipment for the Ferguson Police and the Missouri National Guard to put down a potential uprising, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/the-coffers-are-full-of-money-and-equipment-for-the-ferguson-police/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [Many are observing Ferguson and witnessing the anger, demonstrations, looting and vandalism and calling for quiet. But quiet isn't enough. The absence of noise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/many-are-observing-ferguson-and-witnessing-the-anger-demonstrations/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [What's good for the very rich might not be good for anybody but them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/what-s-good-for-the-very-rich-might-not-be-good-for-anybody-but-them/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [Those who have the most wealth and the most property, their children have the first, the best, and the most.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/those-who-have-the-most-wealth-and-the-most-property-their-children/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [Most blacks will argue that they excel because of hard work, because of intellect, determination, sweat, blood, tears and risk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/most-blacks-will-argue-that-they-excel-because-of-hard-work-because/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [Pictures can live in one's memory. That's why they are important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/pictures-can-live-in-one-s-memory-that-s-why-they-are-important/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [A check or credit card, a Gucci bag strap, anything of value will do. Give as you live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/a-check-or-credit-card-a-gucci-bag-strap-anything-of-value-will-do/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [When they wrote the Constitution, only white male landowners had the right to vote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/when-they-wrote-the-constitution-only-white-male-landowners-had-the/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [I'm too mature to be angry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/i-m-too-mature-to-be-angry/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [We picked their cotton. We cooked their food. We nursed their babies. Now we can run their cities. We can run their states. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/we-picked-their-cotton-we-cooked-their-food-we-nursed-their-babies/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [There are clear patterns of discrimination against Blacks and Latinos. The big banks targeted Blacks and Latinos with toxic packages of subprime predatory lending.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/there-are-clear-patterns-of-discrimination-against-blacks-and-latinos/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [Few would deny that blacks have become very dominant in athletics: football, basketball, track, now dominant in tennis and dominant in golf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/few-would-deny-that-blacks-have-become-very-dominant-in-athletics/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) [Explore all 281 Jesse Jackson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) ## More Greatness quotes > [The man who can master his time can master nearly anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-man-who-can-master-his-time-can-master-nearly-anything/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Every man who is high up likes to think that he has done it all himself, and the wife smiles and lets it go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-man-who-is-high-up-likes-to-think-that-he-has-done-it-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“You are destiny for greatness. 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-gaskell/) [Browse all 7,631 Greatness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We must not measure greatness from the mansion down, but from the manger up.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jesse Jackson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/we-must-not-measure-greatness-from-the-mansion-down-but-from-the-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Greatness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/we-must-not-measure-greatness-from-the-mansion-down-but-from-the-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/179/jesse-jackson-1161_greatness_we-must-not-measure-greatness-from-the-m_767402.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/179/jesse-jackson-1161_greatness_we-must-not-measure-greatness-from-the-m_767402.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/179/jesse-jackson-1161_greatness_we-must-not-measure-greatness-from-the-m_767402.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We must not measure greatness from the mansion down, but from the manger up.” — Jesse Jackson", "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": "Jesse Jackson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We must not measure greatness from...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/we-must-not-measure-greatness-from-the-mansion-down-but-from-the-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/we-must-not-measure-greatness-from-the-mansion-down-but-from-the-2/#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 } } ] } ```