Quotes About Excellence

Corruptio optimi pessima." The corruption of the best things are the worst things.

F]or a thing to be evil, one single defect suffices, whereas for it to be good . . . it is not enough for it to be good in one point only, it must be good in every respect. . . .

To a humble mind nothing is more astonishing than to hear its own excellence.

manifests a good person, a good character, a good habit, and also because good deeds gradually form good habits, good character, good persons.

perfect is the enemy of good.

Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, William Shakespeare, and Michelangelo Buonarroti stand together at the peak of Western culture.

He was interested in only one thing: turning out the best job he could, with the skill he possessed.

prepubescent relative to collect your excellence-in-filmed-sodomy prize?—are met with bemused shrugs), "but I'm here to thank you on his behalf, and to say that I taught Jim everything he knows." [Enormous audience laugh and ovation, single spasmodic shudder from hunched ABC Radio lady.]

The best service professionals excel at two things in conveying credibility: anticipating needs, and speaking about needs that are commonly not articulated. For

unity, pride, respect, loyalty, excellence, and integrity.

These goals are not unique to us. Our best competitors almost certainly have similar, if not identical goals. If we are to outperform them, we don't need a better vision, but a better approach to making it happen.

The most dementing of all modern sins: the inability to distinguish excellence from success.

you don't need the best people to produce world-class results.

I don't like to do anything that I can't do very well-Doris Day

Discipline over ability wins every time.

Find a purpose in life so big it will challenge every capacity to be at your best.

Talent is part of the equation, but when you combine talent with accountability and authenticity, it is tough to beat.

back of the team jerseys to serve as a constant reminder of the narrow margin between winning and losing, failure and success, between being good and becoming great.

In place of bottom-of-the-bill humiliation and hand-to-mouth motel living, Roxy Music were now a major draw – and they lived up to it, insisting on staying only in plush hotels and grazing at restaurants with Michelin stars to spare.

The desire to write well can never be fulfilled without hard work.

Nevertheless, an Olympic pool is an Olympic pool, touched by immortal glory.

A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both. —L. P. Jacks

There are no traffic jams on the extra mile.

Ability can take you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there