“Why are you such an ass?" The words came out before I could think twice."Everyone has to excel at something, right?""Well, you're doing a great job.”

“Think twice before you speak, and then you may be able to say something more insulting than if you spoke right out at once.”

“If you make a choice in this conference and you stick to it to be an excellent person in everything you do and you stick to it especially to be excellent when nobody is looking and do it not to get a result but to glorify God you’re going to have peace and joy and you’re going to have results. My concern is that if we just do something to get results then we’re not likely to follow things all the way through to the finish, because we get very discouraged, and I think that’s one of the reasons we have such discouragement among people. “Well, I’m doing this, and I expected to get a breakthrough before now.” ….. Well, I think God has to purify our hearts and get us to the point where we are not just doing something right just to get something!”

“You're twisting my words.""I think you are doing a fine job of twisting them yourself.”

“The excellence reflex is a natural reaction to fix something that isn't right, or to improve something that could be better. The excellence reflex is rooted in instinct and upbringing, and then constantly honed through awareness, caring and practice.The overarching concern to do the right thing well is something we can't train for. Either it's there or it isn't.”

“The Word 'Repulse': I hate this word. I believe 'repel' is a perfectly good word, and 'repulsion' is the noun, as well as the title of an excellent Dinosaur Jr. song. A compulsion compels you; an impulse impels you. Nobody ever says 'compulse' or 'impulse' as a verb. So why would you ever say 'repulse'? This word haunts me in my sleep, like a silver dagger dancing before my eyes. Renee looked it up and I was wrong. But I still kind of think I'm right.”