Leadership Quote by B. R. Ambedkar

Ambedkar’s line lands like a quiet rebuke to the class of “important” men who confuse visibility with virtue. By splitting “great” from “eminent,” he attacks a common shortcut in political culture: mistaking rank, reputation, or intellectual firepower for moral leadership. Eminence is a social certificate; greatness, for Ambedkar, is a choice that costs something.

The subtext is sharper than the wording. “Servant of the society” isn’t the soft charity language of noblesse oblige. Coming from a man who fought caste hierarchy at its roots, the phrase flips the traditional chain of command. In a society built on graded inequality, “service” had long been coerced from the bottom. Ambedkar reclaims the term and redirects it upward: the truly great must accept obligation, accountability, even self-effacement, especially if they benefit from power.

The intent is also political hygiene. Ambedkar knew how easily mass politics turns “eminent” figures into untouchable icons, insulating them from scrutiny. He’s setting a standard meant to puncture hero worship: leadership is legitimate only when it submits itself to the needs and dignity of the many, not the ego of the few.

Context matters. As an architect of India’s constitutional framework and a relentless critic of social tyranny, Ambedkar was suspicious of rhetoric that celebrates individuals while leaving structures intact. This quote is a measuring stick: not who gets applauded, but who accepts the burden of serving a society they’re trying to remake.