By definition, it is not possible to everyone to be above the average.

Faith in the endgame helps you live through the months or years of buildup.

The x factor of a great leader is humility combined with will.

A visionary company doesn't simply balance between idealism and profitability: it seeks to be highly idealistic and highly profitable. A visionary company doesn't simply balance between preserving a tightly held core ideology and stimulating vigorous change and movement; it does both to an extreme.

Good is the enemy of great. That's why so few things become great.

In the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work. Perhaps, then you might gain that great tranquility that comes from knowing that you've had a hand in creating something of intrinsic excellence that makes a contribution. Indeed, you might even gain that deepest of all satisfactions: knowing that your short time on this earth has been well spent, and that it mattered.

Those who build and perpetuate mediocrity...are motivated more by the fear of being left behind.