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Literary notes about Excellence (AI summary)

The concept of "excellence" in literature has been remarkably versatile, serving to denote both the inherent virtues of a subject and the superior quality of an achievement. In classical philosophy, for example, Plato extensively links excellence to the soul’s virtues and its pursuit of justice, as seen when he discusses how justice embodies the excellence of the soul ([1], [2]). Aristotle, on the other hand, uses the term to describe the proper functioning of things—for instance, noting that the eye’s excellence lies in its ability to see well ([3], [4]). Beyond philosophical discourse, excellence also functions as a measure of aesthetic or technical merit: Bacon praises English moral writings for their excellence ([5]) while Coleridge and other literary figures refer to the exquisite polish and rarity that elevate a work’s diction or style ([6]). Meanwhile, in more everyday or even conversational settings, the term can serve as both an honorific and a casual descriptor, highlighting outstanding character or performance ([7], [8]). This rich variety in usage—from representing moral or intellectual virtue to marking a high standard of artistic or practical achievement—demonstrates how deeply the idea of excellence has been woven into the fabric of literary expression.
  1. And is not the end of the soul happiness, and justice the excellence of the soul by which happiness is attained?
    — from The Republic by Plato
  2. And we have admitted that justice is the excellence of the soul, and injustice the defect of the soul?
    — from The Republic of Plato by Plato
  3. So too the excellence of the horse makes a horse good, and good in speed, and in carrying his rider, and standing up against the enemy.
    — from The Ethics of Aristotle by Aristotle
  4. The excellence of the eye, for instance, makes both the eye good and its work also: for by the excellence of the eye we see well.
    — from The Ethics of Aristotle by Aristotle
  5. They were, in the estimation of Mr. Hallam, the first in time and in excellence of English writings on moral prudence.
    — from Bacon's Essays, and Wisdom of the Ancients by Francis Bacon
  6. The excellence, at which they aimed, consisted in the exquisite polish of the diction, combined with perfect simplicity.
    — from Biographia Literaria by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  7. —Virtue is used here, of course, in the sense of "the excellence of man," not in the sense of the Christian negative virtue.
    — from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book I and II by Nietzsche
  8. From time to time he is moved to speak in bad French, and then, for some reason or other, he thinks it necessary to address me as “Votre Excellence.”
    — from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

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