The greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries.

The topic raises the controversial issue of whether the greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them or whether they were recognized by their contemporaries. Indisputably, in the annals of history, there are numerous examples of occurrences where an individual’s brilliance was not appreciated in his lifetime, and it was only after his passing, that his greatness was exemplified. Nevertheless, historical records are also rife with the records of brilliant mathematicians, physicists and painters many of whom were quite celebrated during their lifetime itself. Thus my agreement with the above statement is a reserved one, since numerous examples can be cited both in favor to and disregard towards it.

To illustrate, let us consider the example of eminent physicist and noted mathematician Galileo. In his time- the 16th century, the widely accepted view, although perverse, was that the Sun revolves around the Earth. It was Galileo, who discovered that it was actually the other way around. Despite presenting his argument with compelling proof, he was incarcerated, and instead of attaining fame, he found himself in a prison cell, where he suffered for the remainder of his lifetime, ultimately succumbing to a painful death. It was centuries later that his hypothesis was accepted, and his true genius revealed.

Nonetheless, it not is always that true geniuses are recognized by those who live after them. This is true especially if we consider the example brilliant physicist- Stephen Hawking, one the most revered scientists of the 20th century. Furthermore, such examples are also present in the field of art, since luminaries of this field- Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Lorenzo Bernini and others were quite famous during their own life span.

Thus it may be concluded that the statement is flawed, since greatness of individuals are not always recognized after their passing. Although the statement is true for some cases, one can cite enough examples of persona, who were noted by their contemporaries themselves. Thus the issue can be correctly restated that the greatness of individuals is sometimes decided by those who live after them, and not always by their contemporaries.