There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self.
I don't see myself as the perfect person at all.
There's always pressure, from other people and yourself. If you're happy with the looks you're born with, then what are you going to do your whole life? We keep thinking up new things and finding better ways of doing things because we're not happy with what we're given.
At most contests now, skaters are judged against themselves.
I'm a work in progress.
This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections.
I'm happy with the man I'm becoming.
Imperfection clings to a person, and if they wait till they are brushed off entirely, they would spin for ever on their axis, advancing nowhere.
They are just 100 per cent bear, whereas human beings feel we're not 100 per cent human, that we're always letting ourselves down. We're constantly striving towards something, to some fulfilment.
I am a sore loser. It's not that I'm so competitive with others. But I'm competitive with myself. I like to do better than I did before.
Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one's potential.
I picture myself now, and I picture myself in 30 years, and I'll probably be the same. I'll still think I'm not the greatest singer I can be.
I think every time you go to do something, it's a challenge. Somebody said to me, 'You've done it all. If you could do anything right now, what would you do?' I said, 'I'd do everything I did better.'
The thing about Steven Seagal is that he clearly wants to be a great person, but he just doesn't know how.
There's a paradox with self-improvement, and it is this: the ultimate goal of all self-improvement is to reach the point where you no longer feel the need to improve yourself.
Do not entertain hopes for realization, but practice all your life.
Every individual can improve from day to day, from year to year, and have greater capacity to do things as the years come and the years go.
I am not as bad as people would suggest. Not as good as I would like to be.
I know I'm not perfect.
I could have been better. That's my goal now, to be better.
I want to grow. I want to be better. You Grow. We all grow. We're made to grow.You either evolve or you disappear.
I like pushing myself, and usually if I'm not good at something I just won't do it because I'm a perfectionist.
I think when you're dealing with any issues about trying to become a better human being, you have to look at a lot of things about yourself that maybe you don't want to or aren't able to.
I stand in my own way on a daily basis. I don't know if this is something I will ever overcome completely, and I'm oddly okay with that.
On some level, I think we want our reading self to represent our best self.
