Quotes About Excellence

You can't be perceived as 'the black actress who doesn't get the same kind of roles as the white actress.' You gotta run the same race. You gotta give the same quality of performances. You gotta have the same standard of excellence, even though people know that you're coming to the race in a deficit. That's just what life is about.

This is the person you think is your antagonist, who ends up being your greatest ally: the person who pushes, criticizes, and challenges you to meet a standard of excellence you might not otherwise achieve.

I hold myself to a high standard.

Lance Guest in 'The Last Starfighter' had such integrity and held himself to such a high standard that I just wanted to raise your own standard to meet it. He is a hard-working, giving actor. He made me feel secure and better in my role opposite him.

When I set out to become an actor, I had set myself a standard.

You need to perform consistently, and if you're raising the standard, you have to stand by it. You have to keep on doing well.

I really care about what I put out, and probably more than the fans care. At times, I think I over-care. But I just know that the body of work has such a high standard that it's kind of like, in my own head, I need to at least match it if not get over that, so that's the challenge.

Maintaining our standard; that's our challenge day-in and day-out.

I'm a standard overachiever.

I don't just want to go out there and do my job - I want to excel at it. I hold myself to a high standard. I expect to make plays that alter the game, and if I don't, I hold myself accountable.

People - myself included - expect a certain standard from me. I always have to elaborate or improve on my playing. My success hasn't made me at all laid-back. That relentless drive is still there.

I've always held myself to a higher standard, whether I was in law enforcement, whether I was in the military.

Senator Jon Kyl has given all of the eventual candidates in this race an excellent model of how to best serve Arizona and the country. He's set the bar extremely high, and I'll do my best to meet that standard.

To even get to the Olympics, I have to qualify for the 2013 World Championships and the standard is high. I know I am always going to be a few points behind the top guys.

American musicians are very giving - they have the highest standard in the world - but they are also very demanding in their conditions.

We're going to make certain that we set a very high standard for ourselves.

Italian companies need to re-convert themselves, and such a re-conversion must be toward a better, higher standard.

I've just always been around great songwriters. To me, they were the standard.

I hold myself to a high standard on and off the field.

I'm not afraid to coach guys. But I am going to coach them to win, and I am going to hold them to a high standard.

There's a standard here as you step on the field as a Broncos defender.

I look back at Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, and especially Betty Carter, whom I admire the most, and I say, OK, they set a standard of excellence. I listen to them not for what they are doing, but to study where they are coming from because, for me, jazz is life experience.

Of course, getting to be No. 1 keeper in the world is a tough ask because there are loads of goalkeepers out there and some very good ones, too. But I always try to give my very best to reach that standard.

Playing to a decent standard sometimes isn't enough.