Man adapts himself to everything, to the best and the worst.
Jose Ortega Y GassetRead
We distinguish the excellent man from the common man by saying that the former is the one who makes great demands on himself, and the latter who makes no demands on himself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Excellence comes from high self-expectations, unlike mediocrity which stems from complacency.
This quote highlights the difference between those who strive for greatness and those who settle for mediocrity. The excellent individual sets high standards and demands more from themselves, propelling personal growth and success, while the common individual remains passive, making no effort to improve or challenge themselves. This distinction serves as a reminder that personal excellence is a choice and requires commitment and ambition.
Themes
ExcellenceSelf-DemandPersonal GrowthMediocrityAmbitionSuccess
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about achieving one's personal best.
More from Jose Ortega Y Gasset
All quotes →"Natural" man is always there, under the changeable historical man. We call him and he comes-a little sleepy, benumbed, without his lost form of instinctive hunter, but, after all, still alive. Natural man is first prehistoric man-the hunter.
Jose Ortega Y GassetRead
We have not reached ethical perfection in hunting. One never achieves perfection in anything, and perhaps it exists precisely so that one can never achieve it. Its purpose is to orient our conduct and to allow us to measure the progress accomplished. In this sense, the advancement achieved in the ethics of hunting is undeniable.
Jose Ortega Y GassetRead
I am myself and what is around me, and if I do not save it, it shall not save me.
Jose Ortega Y GassetRead
We fall in love when our imagination projects nonexistent perfection upon another person. One day, the fantasy evaporates and with it, love dies.
Jose Ortega Y GassetRead
Life is a terrible conflict, a grandiose and atrocious confluence. Hunting submerges man deliberately in that formidable mystery and therefore contains something of religious rite and emotion in which homage is paid to what is divine, transcendent, and in the laws of Nature.
Jose Ortega Y GassetRead
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