The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential…these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.

If you have overcome your inclination and not been overcome by it, you have reason to rejoice.

There are two ways to get enough: One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.

A desire to be observed, considered, esteemed, praised, beloved, and admired by his fellows is one of the earliest as well as the keenest dispositions discovered in the heart of man.

I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is the victory over self.

A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than they need.

It is not because men's desires are strong that they act ill; it is because their consciences are weak.

The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall.

To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition, the end to which every enterprise and labor tends, and of which every desire prompts prosecution.

A burning desire is the greatest motivator of every human action. The desire for success implants ''success consciousness'' which, in turn, creates a vigorous and ever-increasing ''habit of success.''

No matter who you are or what your position you must keeping fighting for whatever it is you desire to achieve.

Real excellence does not come cheaply. A certain price must be paid in terms of practice, patience, and persistence—natural ability notwithstanding.

Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal—a commitment to excellence—that will enable you to attain the success you seek.

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.

If happiness is activity in accordance with excellence, it is reasonable that it should be in accordance with the highest excellence.

Badness you can get easily, in quantity: the road is smooth, and it lies close by. But in front of excellence the immortal gods have put sweat, and long and steep is the way to it, and rough at first. But when you come to the top, then it is easy, even though it is hard.

I am not remotely interested in just being good.

How excellent is thy name in all the earth.

Excellence is not a gift, but a skill that takes practice. We do not act ‘rightly’ because we are ‘excellent’, in fact we achieve ‘excellence’ by acting ‘rightly’.