One cannot develop taste from what is of average quality but only from the very best.

Next to excellence is the appreciation of it.

O wise man! Give your wealth only to the worthy and never to others. The water of the sea received by the clouds is always sweet.

Conviction never so excellent, is worthless until it coverts itself into conduct.

Excellence, then, is a state concerned with choice, lying in a mean, relative to us, this being determined by reason and in the way in which the man of practical wisdom would determine it.

The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.

We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own flesh and blood and bones. Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man’s features, any meanness or sensuality to imbrute them.

The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.

Among all kinds of Writing, there is none in which Authors are more apt to miscarry than in Works of Humour, as there is none in which they are more ambitious to excel.

Life’s like a play: it’s not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters.

Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.

All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.

I had rather excel others in the knowledge of what is excellent, than in the extent of my power and dominion.

I want the services to look and sound like the Grammys. It’s not showy, but we represent God, and it should be first class.

What starts the process, really, are laughs and slights and snubs when you are a kid. If your anger is deep enough and strong enough, you learn that you can change those attitudes by excellence, personal gut performance.

The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.

The quality of research in the U.S. is absolutely the best.

Our goal is to make the best devices in the world, not to be the biggest.

I’m not gonna be bad at anything, and I want to actually be the best at anything I’m doing. So if I’m playing basketball, if I’m taking the SATs, like, there’s a competitive spirit behind it. With production, it’s the same thing.

We had hundreds of thousands of people all dedicated to doing the perfect job, and I think they did about as well as anyone could ever have expected.

One that desires to excel should endeavor in those things that are in themselves most excellent.

Success is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.

What is easy is seldom excellent.

Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than fidelity. Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind.

Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people.

None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.

I won’t accept anything less than the best a player’s capable of doing… and he has the right to expect the best that I can do for him and the team!

We are domesticated animals, revolving in a cage which we have built for ourselves – with its contentions, wranglings, its impossible political leaders, its gurus who exploit our self-conceit and their own with great refinement or rather crudely.

I have the Midas touch, in the way that when I hook up with a project, I feel, not speaking cocky or conceited, but there’s a confidence I have. I learned that from Muhammad Ali; I used to bodyguard him. He taught me about confidence. So when it comes to any job I work, I’m gonna do it good; I’m going to bring it over the top.

Perfect friendship is the friendship of men who are good, and alike in excellence; for these wish well alike to each other qua good, and they are good in themselves.

If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.

No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness.

Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.

I had no ambition to be a writer because the books I read were too good, my standards were too high.

Bad food is made without pride, by cooks who have no pride, and no love. Bad food is made by chefs who are indifferent, or who are trying to be everything to everybody, who are trying to please everyone… Bad food is fake food… food that shows fear and lack of confidence in people’s ability to discern or to make decisions about their lives.

I believe God wants you to have money to pay your bills, send your kids to college and do charity work and build orphanages. There’s the teaching that we’re supposed to be poor to show that we’re humble. I don’t buy that. I think we’re supposed to be leaders. We’re supposed to excel.

A true critic ought to dwell upon excellencies rather than imperfections, to discover the concealed beauties of a writer, and communicate to the world such things as are worth their observation.

I’m grateful to intelligent people. That doesn’t mean educated. That doesn’t mean intellectual. I mean really intelligent. What black old people used to call ‚mother wit‘ means intelligence that you had in your mother’s womb. That’s what you rely on. You know what’s right to do.

Winning takes precedence over all. There’s no gray area. No almosts.

By appreciation, we make excellence in others our own property.

Time is the friend of the wonderful company, the enemy of the mediocre.

If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you’re a one-eyed man in a kingdom of the blind.

Things done well and with a care, exempt themselves from fear.

Seek not the favor of the multitude; it is seldom got by honest and lawful means. But seek the testimony of few; and number not voices, but weigh them.

We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent.

In art the best is good enough.

The noblest search is the search for excellence.

Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.

We hire people who want to make the best things in the world.

No crime is so great as daring to excel.

Those who attain any excellence, commonly spend life in one pursuit; for excellence is not often gained upon easier terms.

Excellence encourages one about life generally; it shows the spiritual wealth of the world.

The function of wisdom is to discriminate between good and evil.

We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? So this is what we’ve chosen to do with our life.

As a soccer player, I wanted an FA Cup winner’s medal. As an actor you want an Oscar. As a chef it’s three-Michelin’s stars, there’s no greater than that. So pushing yourself to the extreme creates a lot of pressure and a lot of excitement, and more importantly, it shows on the plate.

Excellence is a continuous process and not an accident.

To excel at the highest level – or any level, really – you need to believe in yourself, and hands down, one of the biggest contributors to my self-confidence has been private coaching.

Discernment is God’s call to intercession, never to faultfinding.

You can become an even more excellent person by constantly setting higher and higher standards for yourself and then by doing everything possible to live up to those standards.

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.

I believe the destiny of your generation – and your nation – is a rendezvous with excellence.