The test of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.

The saying defines leadership as a catalytic rather than a manufacturing power. It assumes human beings already possess latent “greatness” (capacity for courage, judgment, creativity, moral action), and that the leader’s role is to draw it out—through example, trust, education, delegation, and the creation of conditions where others can excel. The contrast between “put greatness into humanity” and “elicit it” rejects paternalism and the idea that leaders confer worth on followers. Instead, it frames effective leadership as recognition and cultivation of existing potential, implying humility in the leader and dignity in those led.