Who can receive the title of a great man?
The intelligent man? But it is not sufficient to have the intelligence to be great...
The mighty man? But many powerful people live inspired by demeaning feelings...
The religious man? But not any form of religion is sufficient!
All these men may possess great intelligence, great power, and a certain religious spirit and are not great men. It may lack some vigour and comprehensiveness, a certain depth and plenitude, indispensable to true greatness.
May the intelligent, powerful, and virtuous man not having the necessary freedom of spirit... It may be that his good qualities do not run with that vast and light spontaneity that characterizes all great things. It may be that his perfection is mixed with a certain shyness and timidity, as something theatrical and violent.
The great man is silently good... is genial, but does not exhibit it... is powerful, but does not ostentatiously show it... helps all, without precipitation... is pure, but does not shout against the impure... loves what is sacred without fanaticism... carries heavy burdens, with lightness and without moaning... dominates without insolence... is humble without servility... speaks at great distances without shouting... loves but without surrendering. Performs good deeds to everyone despite not being noticeable...
The great man does not destroy what is broken, nor extinguishes the smoking flax, neither one can hear his cry on the streets... He opens new paths without crushing anyone... opens wide spaces without breaking doors... enters the human heart without knowing how...
All this makes the great man because he is like the sun, this very powerful star able to sustain a planetary system, and very delicate in kissing a delicate flower...
This is, and these are the attitudes of the truly great man because he is an instrument in the hands of God... the God of infinite power and supreme love... God, whose power governs the immensity of the Cosmos - and whose patience comprehends the weaknesses of man...
The great man is, more than anyone, the image and likeness of God.
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