Being a "promising beginner" is fun, but being an actual expert is infinitely more gratifying. - Angela Duckworth

But if, instead, you define genius as working toward excellence, ceaselessly, with every element of your being — then, in fact, my dad is a genius, and so am I, and so is Coates, and, if you're willing, so are you.

In other words, we want to believe that Mark Spitz was born to swim in a way that none of us were and that none of us could. We don't want to sit on the pool deck and watch him progress from amateur to expert. We prefer our excellence fully formed. We prefer mystery to mundanity.

Second, they knew in a very, very deep way what it was they wanted. They not only had determination, they had direction.