I look for the day. . . when the only criterion of excellence or position shall be the ability and character of the individual; and this time will come.
We can't achieve excellence through talent alone. Or merely by making technological improvements. We can't even buy our way to excellence, no matter how much money we have available to spend. More dollars will never do it. We have to develop a strong corporate conscience. Ethical muscle. And that doesn't happen by accident either.
Minds are of three kinds: one is capable of thinking for itself; another is able to understand the thinking of others; and a third can neither think for itself nor understand the thinking of others. The first is of the highest excellence, the second is excellent, and the third is worthless.
There is an infinite difference between a little wrong and just right, between fairly good and the best, between mediocrity and superiority.
Universal violence compels the language to be mute. . . . Silence is not only a metaphor of Hemingway's work; it is also the source of its formal excellence, its integrity.
Perfection. Excellence. What a passionate lover. But once having tasted the lips of excellence, once having given oneself to its perfection, how dreary and burdensome and filled with anomie are the remainder of one's waking hours trapped in the shackled lock-step of the merely ordinary, the barely acceptable, the just okay and not a stroke better.
Excellence is the new forever.
The only way we can develop muscle is through regular exercise. As soon as we stop stretching and working toward higher ethics, our standards start to sag. The muscle gets soft, and instead of excellence we have to settle for mediocrity. Maybe something even worse.
The quality of a man's life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence.
There is an ideal of excellence for any particular craft or occupation; similarly there must be an excellent that we can achieve as human beings. That is, we can live our lives as a whole in such a way that they can be judged not just as excellent in this respect or in that occupation, but as excellent, period. Only when we develop our truly human capacities sufficiently to achieve this human excellent will we have lives blessed with happiness.
Aim not to win or succeed, but for excellence in the moment.
Diffidence may check resolution and obstruct performance, but compensates its embarrassments by more important advantages; it conciliates the proud, and softens the severe; averts envy from excellence, and censure from miscarriage.
Strive for perfection, but settle for excellence.
The expectation level is high at the University of Alabama and it should be. What's wrong with people expecting excellence?
There are no speed limits on the road to success.
All compounded things are subject to decay. Strive with diligence!
All the excesses, all the violence, and all the vanity of great men, come from the fact that they know not what they are: it being difficult for those who regard themselves at heart as equal with all men. . . For this it is necessary for one to forget himself, and to believe that he has some real excellence above them, in which consists this illusion that I am endeavoring to discover to you.
Instead of our drab slogging forth and back to the fishing boats, there's reason to live! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can learn to be free! we can learn to fly!
Excellence in one area is the beginning of excellence in every area.
I think education is power. I think that being able to communicate with people is power. One of my main goals on the planet is to encourage people to empower themselves. " Another "I was raised to believe that excellence is the deterrent to racism and sexism. And that's how I operate my life. " And another "It does not matter who you are or where you came from. The ability to triumph begins with you. Always.