Great People :: miscellaneous

Great People Only great men are marked with great faults.† This quotation from â€Å"Maxims† was written by La Rochefoucauld. He states that people with nobility of their minds create many mistakes throughout their lives. This quotation is only partially correct, people do indeed have faults but it is these faults that restrict them from being great. Every person has done unpleasant acts that disassociate them from being a great person. Each day, people break society's norms or rules and most feel they have done nothing wrong. A man who has sex with the under aged girl has a justification for his actions. He tells himself that she knew what she was getting into even though he did actually rape her. Just as a man with his wife’s blood on his hands justifies that she deserved her punishment for not following his rules. Everyone breaks some form of laws through out the day. People who do not see themselves as criminals break laws, for instance the average speeder or traffic light runner. These people are in a hurry and do not want the hassle of stopping or slowing down instead they go on and have an accident. Each person has their own way of justifying their actions. Most people blame someone else for their own actions because to them they did nothing wrong. While others compare their actions to the actions of others who did a deed far worse than theirs. With this constant justification of our negative traits peoples' views of reality begin to become distorted and lost. With distortion of reality the whole society begins to shift into a greatless nation of sinners. Some people who are thought of being great discover inventions that injure or take others’ lives. For example Albert Einstein, he was the discoverer of atomic energy. This energy has been used to devastate entire cities and kill uncountable numbers of people. Atomic energy emits a massive amount of radiation that pollutes our air, water, and land leaving large areas inaccessible for years to come. Is this the work of a great individual? No, a great person would not create something that would be this destructive. Albert Einstein obviously did not know the full extent of his discovery. He did not take the time to completely research all the possibilities and consequences that came with his findings. So in other words the human race is still paying for his mistakes.