Grandesa

"No one knows how greatness comes to a man. It may lie in his blackness, sleeping, or it may lance into him like those driven fiery particles from outer space. These things, however are known about greatness: need gives it life and puts it into action; it never comes without pain; it leaves a man changed, chastened and exalted at the same time - he can never return to simplicity."

John Steinbeck (Sweet Thursday (1954), cap. 36)