“No! No one who was great in the world will be forgotten, but everyone
was great in his own way, and everyone in proportion to the greatness of
that which he loved.
He who loved himself became great by virtue of
himself, and he who loved other men became great by his devotion, but
he who loved God became the greatest of all.
Everyone shall be
remembered, but everyone became great in proportion to his expectancy.
One became great by expecting the possible, another by expecting the
eternal; but he who expected the impossible became the greatest of all.
Everyone shall be remembered, but everyone was great wholly in
proportion to the magnitude of that with which he struggled. For he who
struggled with the world became great by conquering the world, and he
who struggled with himself became great by conquering himself, but he
who struggled with God became the greatest of all. Thus did they
struggle in the world, man against man, one against thousands, but he
who struggled with God was the greatest of all. Thus did they struggle
on earth: there was one who conquered everything by his power, and there
was one who conquered God by his powerlessness. There was one who
relied upon himself and gained everything; there was one who in the
security of his own strength sacrificed everything; but the one who
believed God was the greatest of all. There was one who was great by
virtue of his power, and one who was great by virtue of his hope, and
one who was great by virtue of his love, but Abraham was the greatest of
all, great by that power whose strength is powerlessness, great by that
wisdom which is foolishness, great by that hope whose form is madness,
great by the love that is hatred to oneself.”
―
Søren Kierkegaard
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