You ought to try to make significant contributions to humanity rather than just get along through life comfortably... the life of trying to achieve excellence in some area is in itself a worthy goal... A life without a struggle on your part to make yourself excellent is hardly a life worth living. ...a life without such a goal... is merely existing...

Striving for excellence means never being satisfied—always doing things to keep improving, even if it means changing everything we do. It means we never feel that we have arrived. We don't believe our press clippings. We don't get complacent and pat ourselves on the backs. We talk about what we could have done better. We believe that we can achieve extraordinary results when we strive for excellence in all we do.

It is essential to effort that existence should be hard, painful and uncertain. It is essential that the struggle should endure, for it is by the struggle man develops. If it ceased, and life became perfect — effort would cease; Life would cease.For Life is effort.

Excellence isn’t about working extra hard to do what you’re told. It’s about taking the initiative to do work you decide is worth doing.

To have striven, to have made the effort, to have been true to certain ideals — this alone is worth the struggle.

All good things require effort. That which is worth having will cost part of your physical being, your intellectual power and your soul power. Let us ever keep in mind that life is largely what we make it.

Remember, results aren't the criteria for success — it's the effort made for achievement that is most important.

The result is not the point; it is the effort to improve ourselves that is valuable. There is no end to this practice.

Excellence can be obtained if you ... care more than others think is wise; ... risk more than others think is safe; . . . dream more than others think is practical; ... expect more than others think is possible.

no matter what your ability is, effort is what ignites that ability and turns it into accomplishment.

Striving for perfection is neurotic; striving for excellence is progress. Excellence is continuous improvement. There is nothing that cannot be done better or improved the next time.

effort is what ignites that ability and turns it into accomplishment.

It shouldn't be easy to be amazing. Then everything would be. It's the things you fight for and struggle with before earning that have the greatest worth. When something's difficult to come by, you'll do that much more to make sure it's even harder — or impossible — to lose.

The pursuit of excellence is less profitable than the pursuit of bigness, but it can be more satisfying.