It is only in your mind that you have to excel, at anything or everything. Of course, it would be very nice to excel at most things. Indeed, we recommend that you try and do your best. But realistically, you are entitled to do the bare minimum to get by. All your accomplishments¹ are just a bonus, something to enjoy, not requirements. You don't have to do anything to prove that you are worthy² of existing.

Albert Ellis, Michael Abrams, Lidia Dengelegi, The Art & Science of Rational Eating, 1992

To enjoy the things we ought and to hate the things we ought has the greatest bearing on excellence³ of character.

Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC), Nichomachean Ethics⁴

With regard to excellence, it is not enough to know, but we must try to have and use it.

Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC), Nichomachean Ethics

Sports serve society by providing vivid examples of excellence.

George F. Will (1941 - )

Strive for excellence, not perfection.

H. Jackson Brown Jr., O Magazine, December 2003

In every power, of which taste is the foundation, excellence is pretty fairly divided between the sexes.

Jane Austen (1775 - 1817), Northanger Abbey, 1818

The ancient Greek definition of happiness was the full use of your powers along lines of excellence.

John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963)

I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God's business.

Michael J. Fox (1961 - ), quoted by Lorne A. Adrain in 'The Most Important Thing I Know'

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.

Pearl Buck⁵ (1892 - 1973), The Joy of Children, 1964

It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity⁶.

Publilius Syrus (~100 BC), Maxims⁷

The renown⁸ which riches or beauty confer is fleeting⁹ and frail¹⁰; mental excellence is a splendid and lasting¹¹ possession.

Sallust (86 BC - 34 BC), The War with Catiline

The sad truth is that excellence makes people nervous.

Shana Alexander

It's not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required.

Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)