Honoring Excellence

I’m a subscriber to Word a Day and one of the clever things

it does, beyond expanding my vocabulary, is to present a quote every day. Here’s

one that particularly struck me:

We must learn to honor

excellence in every socially accepted human activity, however humble the

activity, and to scorn shoddiness, however exalted the activity. An excellent

plumber is infinitely more admirable than an incompetent philosopher. The

society that scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble

activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted

activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes

nor its theories will hold water.

-John W. Gardner, author and leader

(1912-2002)

In our current favor for immediacy and controversy

over humble excellence, Gardner’s words set me to thinking. Perhaps we

have made price, status and availability too low a bar.

What makes us smile? Why does extra effort so

amaze us? Why is it that a simple act of kindness or courage is

…