I have an unshakable belief that mankind's higher nature is on the whole still dormant. The greatest souls reveal excellencies of mind and heart which their lesser fellows possess-hidden, it is true, but there all the same.
We ought, so far as it lies within our power, to aspire to immortality, and do all that we can to live in conformity with the highest that is within us; for even if it is small in quantity, in power and preciousness, it far excels all the rest.
If we want happiness, I think we should follow classic Greek wisdom and live with areté. The word directly translates as 'excellence' or 'virtue,' but has a deeper meaning — something closer to 'expressing the highest version of ourselves.' When we're showing up fully moment to moment, there's no room for regret/anxiety/disillusionment, just a whole lot of happiness. Here's to getting our areté on!
The purpose of our lives is to give birth to the best which is within us.
Whoever I am, or whatever I am doing, some kind of excellence is within my reach.
I still want what I've always wanted ... to be the best person I can be.
God has destined you to soar. You have victory, freedom and excellence on the inside.
You are destined to become the peer of those you most respect because the greatness you perceive in them is your own.
Not in the knowledge of things without, but in the perfection of the soul within, lies the empire of man aspiring to be more than man.
You have excellence on the inside. It’s who you are. Now do your part. Bring out your excellence!
Among the flowers no perfume is like mine; That which is best in me comes from within. So those in this world who would rise and shine Should seek internal excellence to win. And though 'tis true that falsehood and despair Meet in my name, yet bear it still in mind That where they meet they perish. All is fair When they are gone and nought remains behind.
We ought not to listen to those who exhort us, because we are human, to think of human things....We ought rather to take on immortality as much as possible, and do all that we can to live in accordance with the highest element within us; for even if its bulk is small, in its power and value it far exceeds everything.
There is within each of us a divine spark of greatness. Who knows of what we are capable if we only try?
The probity that scintillizes in the superfices of your persons informs my ratiocinating faculty, in a most stupendous manner, of the radiant virtues latent within the precious caskets and ventricles of your minds.
We all have the extraordinary coded within us, waiting to be released.
It's like this, I think: the excellence of a good body doesn't make the soul good, but the other way around: the excellence of a good soul makes the body as good as it can be.
The road to the Olympics, leads to no city, no country. It goes far beyond New York or Moscow, ancient Greece or Nazi Germany. The road to the Olympics leads — in the end — to the best within us.
Ancient masters of excellence had a subtle essence, and a depth too profound to comprehend.
