Alexander Pope Quotes

He was a god, such as men might be, if men were gods.

The desire of excessive power caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge caused men to fall.

You don't ever want to go out there and not be the best. You want to be the best cop that you can. Be the best writer you can be. Everybody has their goals. Everybody has their dreams.

A perfect human being: Man in search of his ideal of perfection. Nothing less.

Such is the nature of men, that howsoever they may acknowledge many others to be more witty, or more eloquent, or more learned; yet they will hardly believe there be many so wise as themselves.

I like to think I am the best there is at what I do, and so I have conquered the world like Alexander. But I don't believe I am the reincarnation of Alexander the Great.

We dream of the perfect wave, the perfect job, the perfect house, the perfect love, and when we get there, we dream of something else, and the journey goes on.

The true picture of life as it is, if it could be adequately painted, would show men what they are, and how they might rise, not, indeed to perfection, but one step first, and then another on the ladder.

I want things to be the best they can be. I want greatness.

Mediocre men work at their best; men seeking excellence strive to do better.

Sometimes, success almost haunts you. You want to be the best at everything you do and know you have to work hard.

Why Not the Best?

Mad ambition trumpeteth to all

To me, the only sin is mediocrity.

I don’t know anyone who is successful that has a small ego.

I know that I always wanted things. I was always proud of my people, proud of my home, but I always wanted more. I think most people do.

I think I'm always somehow interested in characters who want to make one perfect thing, to transcend humanness, even if only for a moment.

No matter what it is, I wanna be great. I wanna be be the best at it.

In my moments of greatest hubris, I say to myself, 'Yes, you should be trying to change the world.'

I got ideas above my station, and I made mistakes.

If you get too big for your boots, if you've got big dreams, you're gonna get them broken or shattered.

From the time of Adam and Eve, man has tried to escape suffering in any form.

Well has it been said that man is the only animal that naturally looks upwards; every other animal naturally looks down. That looking upward and going upward and seeking perfection are what is called salvation; and the sooner a man begins to go higher, the sooner he raises himself towards this idea of truth as salvation.

The significance of a man is not in what he attains, but rather what he longs to attain.

I am really not "cyclonic" at all. Far from it. What I want is not here, nor can I longer bear this "cyclonic" atmosphere. This is the way to perfection, to strive to be perfect, and to strive to make perfect a few men and women. My idea of doing good is this: to evolve out a few giants, and not to strew pearls before swine, and so lose time, health, and energy.