Quotes About Excellence

The bar was very high-we had to really make sure that we got what we really wanted, that it was a real finished album. We weren't going to give up until we got that.

Sergio Aguero, everyone knows how good his finishing is, but to play up against him... these top players, until I played against them I didn't realise how good they were.

I can't imagine doing anything cooler or better than what we did on 'The Stage' and felt like we're firing on all cylinders.

Son, give 'em a good show, and always travel first class.

The most important thing any person can focus on, whether in a first audition or a first job, is to be the best you can be. The rest will take care of itself.

I got my first job by exceeding expectations.

First of all, you have to work to prove how good you are.

Tulo was the first one to tell me I needed to take pride in my defense. And he was right. You've got to take pride in it and want to be really good at it.

If you go to a second-rate place, and you are first-rate, it is very difficult to do first-rate work because you do not get that critical feedback you need for first-rate work on a daily basis.

Like, for real, I'm going to be like Larry Fitzgerald. Maybe even more.

I was nearing the end of childhood when I started to pay real attention to jazz singers. Women excelled as jazz singers; they surpassed most of the men. Black women excelled as jazz singers; they surpassed most of the whites.

Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose.

Do more than is required. What is the distance between someone who achieves their goals consistently and those who spend their lives and careers merely following? The extra mile.

Heroes are ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary.

Any job very well done that has been carried out by a person who is fully dedicated is always a source of inspiration.

Be who you are and be that well.

We should remember that one man is much the same as another, and that he is best who is trained in the severest school.

Who cares if somebody dances better? Doing my very best is rewarding internally.

It doesn't matter if you have a six-minute match on 'Superstars,' go out and steal the show. Go have a great, solid match. Somebody's going to say, 'Who cares about 'Superstars?' Nobody watches it. And it's only six minutes.' That's the wrong attitude. That's a loser's attitude, and that's what I've told dozens of talents.

I'm gonna try to do my job to the best of my ability and support whoever's on my team.

Whoever you're playing against, you want to do as well as you can.

Whoever picks me up, I'm going to try and play my best for, to be the best player on the field at any given time.

For those of us who spent our careers competing with David Broder, the hardest thing to abide was the inevitable comparison. If someone said Jack Germond - or Jules Witcover or Walter Mears or whoever - 'is a pretty good political reporter,' the default response would be, 'but he's no David Broder.'

I believe that music is about making quality things, making quality art, and no matter who you decide to work with, you and that person have to come up with something special, come up with something that is excellent material, so whoever hears it and reviews it will like it.