Related States & Conditions | Syntonic | Dystonic
Before the gates of excellence the high gods have placed sweat; long is the
road and steep at first; but when the heights are reached, then there is ease,
though grievously hard in the winning.
Hesiod
fl. c. 700 BCE, Greek Poet
Works and Days
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
Aristotle
384-322 BCE, Greek Philosopher
For it is commonly said: 'hard tasks are pleasant when they are finished.'
Cicero
106-43 BCE, Roman Orator, Statesman, Essayist
De Finibus
No Limits are set to the ascent of man, and to each and every one the
highest stands open. Here it is only your personal choice that decides.
Hasidic Saying
You were born with wings. Why prefer to crawl through life?
Rumi
1207-1273, Afghani-Turkish Sufi Mystic, Poet
The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.
Molière
1622-1673, French Dramatist, Actor, Director
All who have achieved real excellence in any art possess one thing in common,
that is, a mind to obey nature, to be one with nature, throughout the four seasons
of the year.
Basho
1644-1694, Japanese Poet
The Narrow Road to the Deep North & Other Travel Sketches , Nobuyuki
Yuasa, tr., 1966
Aim at perfection in everything, though in most things it is unattainable;
however, they who aim at it, and persevere, will come much nearer to it than those
whose laziness and despondency make them give it up as unattainable.
Lord Chesterfield
1694-1773, English Statesman, Writer
In order to carry out great enterprises, one must live as if one will never have
to die.
Marquis de Vauvenargues
1715-1747, French Militarist, Moralist
Reflexions et maximes
With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable.
Thomas Buxton
1786-1845, English Reformer, Abolitionist, Philanthropist
The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
1807-1882, American Poet, Writer
You are not judged by the height you have risen, but from the depth you have
climbed.
Frederick Douglass
1817-1895, African-American Abolitionist, Writer, Statesman
Strive to make something of yourself; then strive to make the most of yourself.
Alexander Crummel
1819-1898, African-American Cleric, Scholar
The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
Walter Bagehot
1826-1877, English Economist, Political Philosopher
To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan,
but also believe.
Anatole France
1844-1924, French Writer, Poet, Critic
The person who can do something that the world wants done will, in the end, make
his way regardless of his race.
Booker T. Washington
1856-1915, African-American Educator, Reformer
Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.
Washington
Efficiency of a practical flawless kind may be reached naturally in the struggle
for bread. But there is something beyond - a higher point, a subtle and unmistakable
touch of love and pride beyond mere skill; almost an inspiration which gives to all
work that finish what is almost art – which is art.
Joseph Conrad
1857-1924, Polish/British Writer, Explorer
Deep down in every human soul is a hidden longing, impulse, and ambition to
do something fine and enduring � If you are willing great things are possible to
you.
Grenville Kleiser
1868-1953, American Writer
Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
1882-1945, 32nd US President
Excellence means when a man or woman asks of himself or herself more than
others do.
Jose Ortega y Gasset
1883-1955, Spanish Philosopher, Critic
Great things are done by people who think great thoughts and then go out into
the world to make their dreams come through.
Ernest Holmes
1887-1960, American Metaphysician, Founder of Religious Science
Do little things in an extraordinary way; be the best one in your line. You
must not let your life run in the ordinary way; do something that will dazzle the
world.
Paramahansa Yogananda
1893-1952, Indian Guru
There ain't no man can avoid being born average, but there ain't no man got to
be common.
Satchel Paige
1900-1982, African-American Baseball Player
I have found that great people do have in common � an immense belief in
themselves and in their mission. They also have great determination as well as
an ability to work hard. At the crucial moment of decision, they draw on their
accumulated wisdom.
Yousuf Karsh
1908-, Armenian/Canadian Photographer, Journalist
in Parade , 1978 December 3
Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should
have accomplished with your ability.
John Wooden
1910-, American Basketball Coach
Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.
Wooden
There's no such thing as Perfection. But, in striving for perfection, we can
achieve excellence.
Vince Lombardi
1913-1970, American Football Coach
The roots of true achievement lie in the will to become the best that you can
become.
Harold Taylor
1914-1993, Canadian/American Educator, Writer
No matter what you do, do your best at it. If you're going to be a bum, be
the best bum there is.
Robert Mitchum
1917-1997, American Actor
Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of
satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded
our best.
Theodore Rubin
1923-, American Psychiatrist
I am not a special person. I am a regular person who does special things.
Sarah Vaughan
1924-1990, African-American Jazz Singer
If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as
Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He
should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to
say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
1929-1968, African-American Civil Rights Leader, Cleric, 1964 Nobel Laureate
The enemy of the "best" is the "good."
Stephen Covey
1932-, American Management Educator, Writer
First Things First
Each of us is born free and equal. The tough job is to outgrow it.
Guion Bluford
1942-, African-American Astronaut, Physicist
For me it's the challenge – the challenge to try to beat myself or do
better than I did in the past. I try to keep in mind not what I have accomplished
but what I have to try to accomplish in the future.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
1962-, African-American Athlete
All great work – artistic, poetic, intellectual or spiritual – is
produced at those moments when its creators are lost completely in their actions,
when they forget themselves altogether, and are free from self-consciousness.
Walpola Rahula
What the Buddha Taught , 1946
Life itself provides the test. The way in which we live what life presents us
with is an indication of where we are at.
Annick d'Astier
There is probably not a single man or woman, who, mostly from self-interest,
it is true, but it might also have been from a superior motive, has not overcome
powerful obstacles and accomplished things extremely difficult to undertake.
Ernest Dimnet
What We Live By
| ACCOMPLISHMENT / ACHIEVEMENT / EXCELLENCE | |
|---|---|
This cross-index may help identify and delineate more closely
subjective realities often hard to pin down.
|
|
| Related States & Conditions | Actualization/Fulfillment | Creativity/Discovery/Innovation | Daring/Challenge | Goal/Purpose, Health/Healing, Liberation/Liberty/Freedom, Success, Solution, Wealth/Prosperity |
| Syntonic | Action/Effort | Decision/Decisiveness | Determination/Persistence/Resolve | Diligence | Discipline | Dreams/Dreaming, Exploration, Faith, Focus/Intention, Imagination, Ingenuity, Initiative, Inspiration, Learning, Manifestation, Opportunity, Passion, Possibility/Potential, Power, Practice, Preparation/Readiness, Self-Reliance, Skill/Talent/Resources, Vision/Visualization |
| Dystonic | Complacency | Conflict/Opposition | Conformity | Defeat | Deferment/Delay | Delusion | Dependence | Distraction/Diversion, Failure/Error, Fear, Habit, Haste/Impatience, Inaction, Insecurity/Risk, Laziness, Limitation, Regret, Worry |
Wisdom for The Soul: Five Millennia of Prescriptions for Spiritual Healing , © 2004