Excellence Quotes - Page 27

• You have achieved excellence as a leader when people will follow you anywhere if only out of curiosity.

  Colin Powell

  People, Leader, Curiosity

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• The specific excellence of verbal expression in poetry is to be clear without being low.

  Aristotle

  Expression, Lows, Clear

  Aristotle, Gerald Frank Else (1970). “Poetics”, p.58, University of Michigan Press

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• We are what we do.
  Excellence, therefore, is not an act,  but a habit.

  Aristotle

  Motivational, Positive, Perseverance

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• My photographs don't go below the surface. They don't go below anything. They're readings of the surface. I have great faith in surfaces. A good one is full of clues. But whenever I become absorbed in the beauty of a face, in the excellence of a single feature, I feel I've lost what's really there been seduced by someone else's standard of beauty or by the sitter's own idea of the best in him. That's not usually the best. So each sitting becomes a contest.

  Richard Avedon

  Reading, Ideas, Sitting

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• There can be no other criterion, no other standard than gold. Yes, gold which never changes, which can be shaped into ingots, bars, coins, which has no nationality and which is eternally and universally accepted as the unalterable fiduciary value par excellence.

  Charles de Gaulle

  Gold, Bars, Fiduciary

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• It is never easy to demand the most from ourselves, from our lives, from our work. To encourage excellence is to go beyond the encouraged mediocrity of our society is to encourage excellence. But giving in to the fear of feeling and working to capacity is a luxury only the unintentional can afford, and the unintentional are those who do not wish to guide their own destinies.

  Audre Lorde

  Destiny, Luxury, Giving

  Audre Lorde (2012). “Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches”, p.54, Crossing Press

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• I wanted to change the rules of engagement, asking for more- from fewer. I was insisting that we had to have only the best people...If you wanted excellence, at a minimum, the ambience had to reflect excellence.

  Jack Welch

  People, Asking, Engagement

  "Jack: Straight from the Gut". Book by Jack Welch, 2001.

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• We believe this combination of excellence in operations and strong execution of our strategy is critical to achieve our vision. We will continue to focus on both in future as well.

  Azim Premji

  Strong, Believe, Focus

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• Diligent follow-up and follow-through will set you apart from the crowd and communicate excellence.

  John C. Maxwell

  Leadership, Crowds, Credibility

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• You've got to do some work now. Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue. Virtue is about moral excellence.

  Francis Chan

  Thought Provoking, Effort, Moral

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• Passion is a product of the heart. Passion is what helps you when you have a great dream. Passion breeds conviction and turns mediocrity into excellence! Your passion will motivate others to join you in pursuit of your dream. With passion, you will overcome insurmountable obstacles. You will become unstoppable!

  Andy Andrews

  Dream, Passion, Heart

  Andy Andrews (2005). “The Traveler's Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success”, p.81, Thomas Nelson Inc

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• The piano is the social instrument par excellence... drawing-room furniture, a sign of bourgeois prosperity, the most massive of the devices by which the young are tortured in the name of education and the grown-up in the name of entertainment.

  Jacques Barzun

  Music, Names, Piano

  Jacques Barzun (1984). “Critical Questions: On Music and Letters, Culture and Biography, 1940-1980”, p.54, University of Chicago Press

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• The science of constructing a commonwealth or renovating it, or reforming it, is...not to be taught a priori...That which in the first instance is prejudicial may be excellent in its remoter operation, and its excellence may rise even from the ill effects it produces in the beginning. The reverse also happens; and very plausible schemes, with very pleasing commencements, have often shameful and lamentable conclusions.

  Edmund Burke

  Government, May, Firsts

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• The business world worships mediocrity. Officially we revere free enterprise, initiative and individuality. Unofficially we fear it.

  George Lois

  Business, Cynical, Individuality

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• We usually evaluate creative process in terms of how much feeling or thinking was behind the work or how well the work was done. Isn't there any other way of appreciating the process? What if the standard of excellence was how fully present the artist was during the process?

  Kazuaki Tanahashi

  Appreciation, Artist, Thinking

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• Wealth does not bring excellence, but that wealth comes from excellence.

  Plato

  Doe, Wealth

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• The legal system doesn't always serve as a good guide for your conscience. You can step way over the ethical line and still be inside the law. The same thing goes for rules, policies and procedures - you know, the organization's "internal laws." You can "go by the book" and still behave unethically. Still not move beyond mediocrity. High standards-the ethics of excellence-come to life through your basic values, your character, integrity and honesty. Obeying the law is the bare minimum.

  Price Pritchett

  Honesty, Integrity, Moving

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• Excellence calls for character . . . integrity . . . fairness . . . honesty . . . a determination to do what's right. High ethical standards, across the board.

  Price Pritchett

  Determination, Honesty, Integrity

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• Wealth does not bring about excellence (aka areté), but excellence (aka areté) brings about wealth and all other public and private blessings for men.

  Socrates

  Blessing, Men, Aka

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• Mediocrity always attacks excellence.

  Michael Beckwith

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  FaceBook post by Michael Bernard Beckwith from Oct 13, 2012

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• Perfection is not a destination; it's a never-ending process...Enjoy!

  Jim Bouchard

  Inspirational, Perfection, Process

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• Before the gates of excellence the high gods have placed sweat; long is the road thereto and rough and steep at first; but when the heights are reached, then there is ease, though grievously hard in the winning.

  Hesiod

  Writing, Winning, Sweat

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• Education, introspection, self-love and excellence are the only ways to overcome the wrath of ignorance

  Romany Malco

  Ignorance, Wrath, Self

  "A Message to Trayvon Martin Sympathizers". www.huffingtonpost.com. July 17, 2013.

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• When you hold out for high standards, people are impressed-but they don't always like you for it. Not everybody will be on your side in your struggle to do what's right and ethical. In fact, sometimes even you won't be on your side. You'll wrestle with inner conflict, torn between what you should do and what you want to do. You'll also aggravate other people. Seems when you walk the straight and narrow you always step on someone's toes. Don't count on the ethics of excellence to make you popular.

  Price Pritchett

  Struggle, Your Side, People

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• But when we get enough people who don't care, and who don't accept personal responsibility for high ethical standards, our organization gets the "M" disease. Mediocrity. Anybody in the place can be a carrier. By the same token, every individual can carry the cure: the ethics of excellence.

  Price Pritchett

  Responsibility, Ethical Standards, Organization

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