The price of greatness is responsibility.

The line frames “greatness” not as a reward or a matter of talent, but as a burden that must be paid for in accountability. To seek high achievement—especially in public life—means accepting consequences, scrutiny, and the duty to act for others rather than oneself. The aphorism also implies a moral test: greatness is proved by willingness to shoulder obligations proportionate to one’s power. In modern usage it often serves as a corrective to glamourized notions of leadership, reminding audiences that authority and acclaim are inseparable from responsibility for outcomes, including failures.