The noble path does win but only if you are prepared to make the investment over a long period of time.

When did you feel most fulfilled? When did you impress yourself, or otherwise feel most proud of yourself?

Professional is not a label you give yourself - it's a description you hope others will apply to you.

Focus on being the best you can at what you want to do.

A true professional feels no pressure to run up a client's bill, knowing that any reduction in revenues caused by being efficient will be more than recompensed by the reputation earned for being honest and trustworthy.

More than any other factor, it is the people we have to deal with that determine the quality of our work lives.

Whether or not your values are operational is crucially determined by whether or not there are consequences for noncompliance.