My dear,
I am writing to you to reveal the bitter, and exceedingly hopeful, truth about excellence.
Excellence is not a birth right. One is not born with excellence bestowed upon them. One does not glimpse upon a newborn and proclaim “that newborn shall make an excellent philosopher.” Excellence is but a habit. Attained only through one’s daily struggle with it. Grasped only through one’s constant failure at the subject they choose to excel.
This is good news. For it reveals that any being can achieve excellence if they so choose. It reveals that we are not what we are born.
Falsely yours,
Aristotle
