Excellence means when a man or woman asks of himself more than others do.

Quote by Jose Ortega Y Gasset

Topics: Jose Ortega Y Gasset Quotes

Stupefaction, when it persists, becomes stupidity.

Stupefaction, when it persists, becomes stupidity.

We live at a time when man believes himself fabulously capable of creation, but he...

We live at a time when man believes himself fabulously capable of creation, but he...

We have need of history in its entirety, not to fall back into it, but...

We have need of history in its entirety, not to fall back into it, but...

Rancor is an outpouring of a feeling of inferiority.

Rancor is an outpouring of a feeling of inferiority.

Youth does not require reasons for living, it only needs pretexts.

Youth does not require reasons for living, it only needs pretexts.

Poetry is adolescence fermented, and thus preserved.

Poetry is adolescence fermented, and thus preserved.

To live is to feel oneself lost.

To live is to feel oneself lost.

Life is an operation which is done in a forward direction. One lives toward the...

Life is an operation which is done in a forward direction. One lives toward the...

Being an artist means ceasing to take seriously that very serious person we are when...

Being an artist means ceasing to take seriously that very serious person we are when...

The metaphor is perhaps one of man's most fruitful potentialities. Its efficacy verges on magic,...

The metaphor is perhaps one of man's most fruitful potentialities. Its efficacy verges on magic,...

In order to master the unruly torrent of life the learned man meditates, the poet...

In order to master the unruly torrent of life the learned man meditates, the poet...

Effort is only effort when it begins to hurt.

Effort is only effort when it begins to hurt.

We cannot put off living until we are ready.

We cannot put off living until we are ready.

Life is a series of collisions with the future; it is not the sum of...

Life is a series of collisions with the future; it is not the sum of...

For the person for whom small things do not exist, the great is not great.

For the person for whom small things do not exist, the great is not great.

To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand.

To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand.

Under the species of Syndicalism and Fascism there appears for the first time in Europe...

Under the species of Syndicalism and Fascism there appears for the first time in Europe...

Barbarism is the absence of standards to which appeal can be made.

Barbarism is the absence of standards to which appeal can be made.

The poet begins where the man ends. The man's lot is to live his human...

The poet begins where the man ends. The man's lot is to live his human...

Biography - a system in which the contradictions of a human life are unified.

Biography - a system in which the contradictions of a human life are unified.