Mike Smith, December 2010 | his painting was quite the thrill. vertically, it read, "she threw both of her hands up in the air and said in a loud voice: 'I'M GOING TO BE GREAT! I'M GOING TO BE TRULY GREAT! NOBODY KNOWS HOW GREAT I'M GOING TO BE!' 'all right,' i said." as the words lead to a body in a bare body broken and in a position of fatal defeat. how far do we go to be considered "great" in this culture?