Quotes on Excellence
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821. Excellence; Poetry; Truth
"The basis of all excellence is truth: he that professes love ought to feel its power."
Johnson: Cowley (Lives of the Poets)
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831. Excellence; Focus
"Those ... who attain any excellence commonly spend life in one pursuit; for excellence is not often gained upon easier terms."
Johnson: Pope (Lives of the Poets)
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859. Complacency; Excellence
"What is easy is seldom excellent."
Johnson: Pope (Lives of the Poets)
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1,152. Admiration; Excellence
"Whatever is done skillfully appears to be done with ease; and art, when it is once matured to habit, vanishes from observation. We are therefore more powerfully excited to emulation by those who have attained the highest degree of excellence, and whom we can therefore with least reason hope to equal."
Johnson: Rambler #122 (May 18, 1751)
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