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Do you want to be great ?, what does greatness really entail ? When you hear about great people, what names and faces comes to your mind ? and why do you even think these people are great ?.
A lot of us if asked to mention the names of some great people we know would come up with a long list of people who have made exploits in various fields and areas of life and who have imparted humanity.
Some people think that greatness is a function of wealth and affluence and as such they associate greatness with material possessions.
In a bid to figure out what greatness really entails and what one has to do to be great, I had to study some great people to see what they all share in common and how their deeds relate.
Indeed several great men have walked the earth and different peoples have different persons they revere and consider as great. The christians if asked would mention Jesus, the Muslims would mention Prophet Muhammed, some other people would mention names like ; Buddha, Nelson Mandela . Martin Luther King. Bill gates , Mark Zuckerberg. Albert Einstein. Winston Churchill, William Shakespeare , sir Isaac Newton etc. The list is just endless.
All of these men are called great men even though not all were wealthy. This makes it obvious that greatness isn't a function of the amount of wealth one has acquired.
So if greatness isn't dependent on wealth and possessions, what are the characteristics for qualifying greatness or great men ?, why are these people great and what exactly made them great ?.
If you look into the lives of great people( like the few mentioned above), One thing that is common amongst them is that they all served humanity, either directly or indirectly. They impacted their generation. They all had love for humanity and they had risen above their own individual concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
Their love for humanity can be shown in their exploits and achievements. It can be shown in their passion and quest to make the world a better place for all mankind.
They believed and had hope in humanity. They never gave up on humanity. It can be observed that these men went out of their way, even in the face of tribulations, rejections and persecution to do stuffs that would better the world
For example late Nelson Mandela.
Nelson Mandela was of the former presidents of South Africa, He is till date one of the most celebrated men in Africa. He was a human rights activist and is celebrated and recognized for spearheading the movement that brought about the end of apartheid in Africa. I am sure you all would undoubtedly consider Nelson Mandela as a great man. Although he died years back, his name is still heard and even children in my country can tell you about his exploits. Nelson Mandela also faced strong persecution whilst he was fighting for his people. He was jailed for 27 years but he never yielded to the pressure of his oppressors to give up the struggle. At the end his efforts paid off and apartheid came to an end in South Africa.
Another great man Martin Luther King Jr. He was known for his peaceful civil rights movements. He advocated for the civil Rights of black Americans and he spearheaded the fight against racial, religious and other forms of discrimination against blacks. He also fought for the voting rights of the blacks.
Martin Luther King Jr is another great man and up till this time he is still remembered and celebrated.
Sir Isaac Newton; another great man was known for his great exploits in science. He propounded the motion theories and several other theories. His discoveries were rudimental and instrumental to most of the scientific innovations now in existence. Although he is long dead, he is still talked about and celebrated. His legacies are always there to see. As long as science is still studied in schools, his name will continue to be heard.
From this little exposition on the life and exploits of these great men, you would see that these men were indeed selfless people and they dedicated their lives to serving and working for the betterment of humanity.
So one important lesson to be learnt from their lives is that greatness comes from what you do for others and not what you do for yourself. It comes from sacrifice and selfless acts. It comes from how you affect the lives of people. Great people love humanity. They are unifiers, they are agents of freedom, liberating people from every form of ignorance and oppression. They understand that knowledge brings freedom so they unify the people and then impart knowledge that would enhance their liberation.
So if someone asks you what one needs to do to be great, I think an appropriate answer is to tell them that, to be great one needs to affect the lives of people positively and leave a good legacy that people would always remember. Hence the saying "we rise by lifting others"
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