Excellence

The Greek word for virtue, areté (ἀρετή), means “excellence,” “goodness,” or “fulfillment of purpose.” In Greek thought, virtue and excellence are inseparable. The Latin virtus—from which we derive the word virtue also means “excellence” or “skill,” as in the term virtuoso, someone with exceptional ability in an art or craft.

So, what does it mean to be excellent? What should we strive to be excellent at? And what if we never become “the best” at anything? Does that mean we have failed?

Excellence should not be measured by external comparison but by personal growth. True excellence is fulfilling one’s potential and performing at one’s best. It is not a competition with others but a journey toward self-mastery. Because excellence is internal, many people can achieve excellence in the same field, each reaching their own highest potential. One hundred pianists can all be excellent, each in their unique way. Excellence, therefore, is not about being the best; it is about being your best.

What, then, should we seek to be excellent at? Aristotle argued that we should strive for excellence in everything we do, but, above all, we should aim to live excellently. Life encompasses all our roles: parent, child, professional, athlete, artist, or teacher. In each of these, we can cultivate excellence.

For Aristotle, the question of how to live excellently was central to his Nicomachean Ethics. His answer was that the distinctive excellence of human beings lies in our capacity to reason, contemplate, and deliberate wisely. To live well, we must perfect this capacity through reflection and deliberation (the rational principle). He writes:

“If we state the function of man to be a certain kind of life, and this to be an activity of the soul implying a rational principle, and the function of a good man to be the good and noble performance of these, then any action is well performed when it is performed in accordance with the appropriate excellence.”(Nicomachean Ethics, Book I, Section 7)

How, then, do we become excellent thinkers? Aristotle believed that we learn to think well by observing wise mentors, reflecting deeply, and practicing good judgment through experience. We cultivate excellence in thought the same way we cultivate excellence in anything: through discipline, reflection, and continual practice.

He believed, and I agree, that experience and role models are the best teachers of an excellent life. What do you think?