Is greatness a matter of chance?

Question: Is greatness a matter of chance!?

For example did the great men and women of history have character traits that made them great or were they ordinary men and women born to a place and time where they were fortunate enough to be able to make difference!?
Is the person that rushes into a burning building the rarity or is it the burning building itself!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Greatness is never a matter of chance!. Plenty of people are born in the same place and the same time and turn out to be smart, ordinary, mediocre or just plain lazy!. But not great!. Greatness consists of not only brilliance of mind but brilliance of action!. These people worked relentlessly to achieve specific goals!. On the surface, if you knew nothing else about them but their successes, it might have looked easy!. But, I'd bet their garbage pails were full of mistakes but they refused to give up and continued to work tirelessly!. Those who think greatness is attributed to nothing more than chance circumstance or DNA have no concept of what is great and have no desire to learn!. They need to put down the best in order to artificially elevate their sorry selves!. Could they discover cures for diseases!? BTW, rushing into a burning building has nothing to do with greatness!. Heroic or instinctive is probably a better word for that!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

I think there are two types of people who can end up in the way for Greatness!.!.!. The ones who strive for it and the ones who happen to be in a place at a time!.

Greatness, in the end, is all about accomplishing things and you need a considerable amount of time to pass before being able to evaluate if someone is great!.!.!. I think MOST of the time, greatness is tossed at people!. They either take it and become great or they run from it!. Then you have those who strive for it!. I think this really depends on how they were raised!.!.!. Great adoration or great anger in childhood brings out the need to strive in most adults!.

I don't equate greatness with heroism, like your burning building analogy implies!. I think heroism is so split second that the automatic response is generally to 'just do'!. If you get a second longer to think, we as humans would probably not run into the building because bottom line we are all about self preservation!. (as evidenced when people die, their brain and heart are the last to go!.!.!. the brain will fight to live!. It will attempt to preserve the being) UNLESS your preservation is tied emotionally and mentally to another person, then chances are you will probably just save yourself, given time to think!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

ALL have the potential for greatness!.!.!. It all depends on if you are willing to step up should the opportunity arise!.

The most submissive and mellow woman will become a raging bull if her child is endangered!.!.!.

The most pansy man may whoop down an attacker breaking in to his house and threatening his family!.!.!.

It is the person that is willing to put their life at risk for the greater good that is the biggest chance of being a hero!.

Back in the early 80's my father was a news paper truck driver and he was dilivering to a store in the Ghetto of Chicago at like, 3:00am and he and his helper saw smoke coming out of the window of a building!.

They saw the flames jump and realized that no one was coming out so they called in to dispatch and had them call the fire department then kicked in the back door and ran through the building rousing the famlies and even had to carry out some of the people in the apartment that was on fire!.

The fire distroyed most of the building and if they didn't do what they did, a LOT of people would have died!.!.!.

They not only put their own lives at risk to help strangers but they let their guard down in a neighborhood where people came out of the shadows every few days with guns and knives to try and rob and kill them!.!.!. They helped the innocent people despite the fact that the residents of the neighborhood tried to kill them on a regular basis!.

They got their picture in the paper and for the next week, no one came out and tried to stab them!.!.!.

They did it because they knew it was the right thing to do!.

To me, that is a hero!.!.!. And not just becaues he is my father!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

A mixture of both!.

It takes a lot of work and effort to become 'great'!.

However some could grow up in poor conditions and have the potential to be great without achieving it due to different circumstances!.

also the term 'great' is an opinion, so there cannot be a definite answer to this question!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Yes, definitely!.
I have always believed that, in this life as much as some negative people would like to believe that there are no greatness amongst us anymore, I strongly disagree, people are great, there are just not a way to show that now daysWww@QuestionHome@Com

True greatness is relative to the size of the left earlobe!. The larger the earlobe, the greater you are!. This is because earlobe is a badass word!. Peace!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Chance may play a part, as may character,
but it never comes without effort!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It's a matter of DNA and Environment!.
It's a matter of chance!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

they were just ordinary people!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

i like pony"s hehe : )Www@QuestionHome@Com

How dare you say my greatness was all just chance! W/o_o\WWww@QuestionHome@Com

maybe i dunnoWww@QuestionHome@Com