“There is an ideal of excellence for any particular craft or occupation; similarly there must be an excellent that we can achieve as human beings. That is, we can live our lives as a whole in such a way that they can be judged not just as excellent in this respect or in that occupation, but as excellent, period. Only when we develop our truly human capacities sufficiently to achieve this human excellent will we have lives blessed with happiness.”

“Excellence is an ArtWon by Training and Habit.We do not act rightlyBecause we have Virtue and Excellence,But rather, we have Virtue and ExcellenceBecause we act rightly.”

“Excellence" is not a gift, but a skill that takes practice.We do not act "rightly" because we are "excellent",in fact we achieve "excellence" by acting "rightly".”

“Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.”

“Excellence must be achieved through the eyes of those who judge us; once achieved it can only be maintained with constant innovation.”

“Unfortunately we often get praise for things that weren't particularly difficult to achieve. If we focus on the props and encouragement of those who have low expectations for us, we become mediocre. It can be challenging to set our sights on excellence, particularly when we're hearing that we're already there. One of life's greatest lessons, which we all must learn, could be expressed in the phrase "That was nothing. Watch this." Challenge yourself and others to call the normal things normal and save that word excellent for things that really are.”

“These virtues are formed in man by his doing the actions ... The good of man is a working of the soul in the way of excellence in a complete life.”