Little people spend their lives fighting other people. This kind lives and dies with their tombstones being the only noticeable change to the landscape.
The great ones, those who bring positive change to their worlds, are driven by passion and vision. These folks realize that time is too precious to waste fighting with those who disagree. Vision and Purpose are bigger than life and will outlast it. When you stop working on your vision to fight with your enemies, you become insignificant. The world is full of that kind.
Nehemiah did not build a wall around Jerusalem by forming an alliance with his enemies, but he moved men to action with his unwavering devotion to his vision of a protected city.