10 Quotes on Greatness from Stand-Up Comedy Legends

Motivational quotes on success and greatness from legendary stand-up comedians.

Achieving elite levels of greatness is impressive in any field. For stand-up comedians, the road to greatness is paved with hard work, determination, perseverance, never backing down, not stopping, remaining focused, never veering off track, not looking over your shoulder, never dying, and no days off.

Here are 10 quotes on greatness from some of the greatest stand-up comedians to ever live:

1. "The mark of greatness is when everything before you is obsolete, and everything after you bears your mark." - Dave Chappelle

2. "Greatness and madness are next-door neighbors and they often borrow each other’s sugar." - Joe Rogan

3. "Realize that sleeping on a futon when you’re 30 is not the worst thing. You know what’s worse, sleeping in a king bed next to a wife you’re not really in love with but for some reason you married, and you got a couple of kids, and you got a job you hate. You’ll be laying there fantasizing about sleeping on a futon. There’s no risk when you go after a dream. There’s a tremendous amount of risk to playing it safe." - Bill Burr

4. "I don’t see how people are comfortable with seeing other people be great. You can be happy for anybody, but what is your excuse to not want to be great? These people are great because they just say, ‘I’ma do that,’ and they do it. That’s it. There’s no scientifical process." - Kevin Hart

5. "Some people see things that are and ask, 'why'? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, 'why not'? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that." - George Carlin

6. "Seventy-five years. That's how much time you get if you're lucky. Seventy-five years. Seventy-five winters, seventy-five springtimes, seventy-five summers, and seventy-five autumns. When you look at it like that, it's not a lot of time, is it? Don't waste them. Get your head out of the rat race and forget about the superficial things that pre-occupy your existence and get back to what's important now." - Eddie Murphy

7. “Whenever you leave behind failure, that means you’re doing better. If you think everything you’ve done has been great, you’re probably dumb.” - Louis C.K.

8. “Be so good they can't ignore you.” - Steve Martin

9. “I think high self-esteem is overrated. A little low self-esteem is actually quite good. Maybe you're not the best, so you should work a little harder.” - Jay Leno

10. "Keep your head up in failure, and your head down in success." - Jerry Seinfeld