Abraham Verghese Quotes

Still humping the American Dream

I've not only pursued the American dream, I've achieved it. I suppose we could say the last few years, I've also achieved the American nightmare.

The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.

The accolades, just like the scrapes and bruises, fade in the end, and all you're left with is your ambition.

Nobody likes to fail. I want to succeed in everything I do, which isn't much. But the things that I'm really passionate about, if I fail at those, if I'm not successful, what do I have?

Glory lies in the attempt to reach one's goal and not in reaching it.

The great man is always the man of mighty effort.

It's very hard to fail completely, if you aim high enough.

Success is both an addiction and an enslavement.

Great achievers are driven, not so much by the pursuit of success, but by the fear of failure.

Fear of failure is always a driver but the thirst for more is a good one too... So I think you need a little bit of both.

That low man seeks a little thing to do, Sees it and does it: This high man, with a great thing to pursue, Dies ere he knows it. That low man goes on adding one to one, His hundred's soon hit: This high man, aiming at a million, Misses an unit. That, has the world here-should he need the next, Let the world mind him! This, throws himself on God, and unperplext Seeking shall find Him.

It is better to aim high and miss than to aim low and hit.

Greatness consists in trying to be great. There is no other way.

But the higher a man mounts, the greater may be his fall; all genius is a conquering of chaos, mystery.

You are grown so very great now, yet the higher a man climbs the farther he has to fall.

In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail.

You shoot as high as you can but if you don't end up there you can still end up accomplishing something great.

Every great team has had to fail at some point in order to be successful.

Everyone has their dreams and their rise and their own version of a fall from grace.

I want to take out the best in America, then I want to take out the best in the world.

Everyone wants to dream about playing on Sundays, but does everyone want to work to get there? And once you get there, are you thankful, or are you just happy to be there? What's your next step? What's your next plan? Me? I want to be great.

I want to go down as one of the best, and that's not just going to happen in one day.

Sometimes you can't accomplish all your goals in life.