Excel in what is excellent It is a great rarity among excellences. You cannot have a great person without something preeminent. Mediocrity never wins applause. Eminence in some distinguished post distinguishes one from the vulgar mob and ranks us with the exceptional. To be distinguished in a small post is to be great in little—the more comfort the less glory. To be excellent at great things is a royal characteristic—it excites admiration and wins goodwill.

THE ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM BY BALTHASAR GRACIAN
TRANSLATED BY JOSEPH JACOBS 1892