„And so modest. Is there anything at which you do not excel?“

„None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.“

—  Ralph Waldo Emerson American philosopher, essayist, and poet 1803 - 1882

Varianta: To accomplish excellence or anything outstanding, you must listen to that whisper which is heard by you alone.

„I will not be modest. Humble, as much as you like, but not modest. Modesty is the virtue of the lukewarm.“

—  Jean Paul Sartre, kniha The Devil and the Good Lord

Act 4, sc. 5
The Devil and the Good Lord (1951)

„If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less than excellent work.“

—  Tom Watson American businessman 1874 - 1956

Attributed to Watson in: William G. Dickerson (1995) In search of the ultimate practice. p. 19.

„If you want to build a major firm, you cannot do it by having a modest vision.“

—  Ronald Cohen British businessman 1945

Book The Second Bounce of the Ball (2007)

„Jill was tall and slim, like most Moroi. With that figure came a modest chest. Angeline's chest… was not so modest.“

—  Richelle Mead, kniha Zlatá lilie

Zdroj: The Golden Lily

„Excellence - Take what you have and do the BEST with it.“

—  Joyce Meyer American author and speaker 1943

„Please do not worry, I never read anything which you write.“

—  Mohammad Hidayatullah 11th Chief Justice of India 1905 - 1992

When a colleague in the court had sent him disparaging remarks on the sides and as a foot note on his draft of a judgement with the comment “Please do not read the marginal comments. They are not for your eyes."

„Success is about executing what you are doing today with unquestionable, breathtaking excellence.“

—  Tom Peters American writer on business management practices 1942

13 February 2017
Weekly Quote

„Anything there is that I can do for you, I will do for you; anything there is that I cannot do, I will learn to do.“

—  William Goldman, kniha The Princess Bride

Zdroj: The Princess Bride

„I am so busy doing nothing… that the idea of doing anything - which as you know, always leads to something - cuts into the nothing and then forces me to have to drop everything.“

—  Jerry Seinfeld American comedian and actor 1954

„You can get assent to almost any proposition so long as you are not going to do anything about it.“

—  Nathaniel Hawthorne American novelist and short story writer (1804 – 1879) 1804 - 1864

John Jay Chapman, Practical Agitation (1900), ch.7
Misattributed

„His Biographer remarked: Of course, ‘Sir, you believe in excellence.' JRD Tata) retorted sharply, 'Not excellence. Perfection. You aim for perfection, you will attain excellence. If you aim for excellence, you will go lower.“

—  J. R. D. Tata Indian businessman 1904 - 1993

His Biographers remark quoted in “Believing in Perfection” in New India Digest

„A modest little person, with much to be modest about.“

—  Winston S. Churchill Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1874 - 1965

„For what is modesty but hypocritical humility, by means of which, in a world swelling with vile envy, a man seeks to beg pardon for his excellences and merits from those who have none? For whoever attributes no merit to himself because he really has none is not modest, but merely honest.“

—  Arthur Schopenhauer, kniha The World as Will and Representation

Vol. I, Ch. III, The World As Representation: Second Aspect
The World as Will and Representation (1819; 1844; 1859)

„I love the fair lilies and roses so gay,
They are rich in their pride and their splendor;
But still more do I love to wander away
To the meadow so sweet,
Where down at my feet,
The harebell blooms modest and tender.“

—  Dora Read Goodale U.S. poet 1866 - 1953

Queen Harebell; reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 353.

„Those activities at which you excel with no effort at all—those are the ones you ought to pursue to the detriment of others.“

—  Carson Cistulli American poet and writer 1979

A Century of Enthusiasm (2007)

„The head-lines which do not head anything they simply replace something but they do not make anything.“

—  Gertrude Stein American art collector and experimental writer of novels, poetry and plays 1874 - 1946

Zdroj: Everybody’s Autobiography (1937), Ch. 5

„Art is anything you can do well. Anything you can do with Quality.“

—  Robert M. Pirsig American writer and philosopher 1928 - 2017

NPR Interview http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4612364 with Pirsig (1974)

„I have this kind of philosophy that I can't do anything about what happened yesterday, or what's going to happen tomorrow. But I feel in full control of what's going on now. I think worry will make you sick. I've never seen it accomplish anything. I've never seen worrying about anything change it. So I decided not to do it. If you can't do anything about it, why in the hell worry about it? Every negative thought you have releases poison into your system, and will kill you or give you cancer, or tumors or whatever else you can think of. So if you are thinking negative about anything, erase that.“

—  Willie Nelson American country music singer-songwriter. 1933

Willie Nelson On Eggs, Martial Arts & Living A Life Without Worry, Southern Living, Lifestyle Network, January 2017, February 22, 2017 http://www.southernliving.com/culture/celebrities/willie-nelson-interview-video,