My dear, Great people are great because they are destined to be, and nothing else… Let me explain. Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives – Choice, not chance, determines your destiny. All great people made great choices. Falsely...

My dear, Welcome misfortune. See, hundreds upon hundreds of people will call you friend when you are in fortunes good graces. But see how many do the same when misfortune takes a liking to you. Hundreds will call you friend when you are king, but only the true will call you friend when you are pauper. For it gains them nothing to call you familiar. Misfortune bestows upon you the gift of seeing the truth in your fellow man’s heart....

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...