--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Always to be best, and to be…" description: "\"Always to be best, and to be distinguished above the rest.\" — The Iliad" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e08/the-iliad-62403_sleep_always-to-be-best-and-to-be-distinguishe_1731346.jpg" --- # Always to be best, and to be distinguished above the rest. ![“Always to be best, and to be distinguished above the rest.” quote by The Iliad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e08/the-iliad-62403_sleep_always-to-be-best-and-to-be-distinguishe_1731346.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e08/the-iliad-62403_sleep_always-to-be-best-and-to-be-distinguishe_1731346.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e08/the-iliad-62403_sleep_always-to-be-best-and-to-be-distinguishe_1731346.jpg) > “Always to be best, and to be distinguished above the rest.” [The Iliad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-iliad/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Striving for excellence and distinction drives heroic ambition and societal status. **In simple terms:** Seek to be the best and stand out. Key Takeaway Pursue excellence to achieve distinction. Themes heroism ambition status Mood heroic aspirational Type literary motivational When to use this quote - sports - career advancement - academic pursuits - public speaking Key Concepts Excellence competition legacy Questions to Reflect On - What does “best” mean for you personally? - How do you balance ambition with humility? A Different Perspective Excellence can create unhealthy rivalry. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) ## Related quotes > [Always to be best, and distinguished above the rest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/always-to-be-best-and-distinguished-above-the-rest/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Give it your best, you don't have to be like the rest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/god/give-it-your-best-you-don-t-have-to-be-like-the-rest/) God > [“Better to lose a little rest now than a great of deal of it later.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-hopson/better-to-lose-a-little-rest-now-than-a-great-of-deal-of-it-later/) Justin Hopson > [How sleep the brave, who sink to rest, By all their country's wishes blest!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-collins/how-sleep-the-brave-who-sink-to-rest-by-all-their-country-s-wishes/) [William Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-collins/) > [Rest strengthens the body, the mind too is thus supported; but unremitting toil destroys both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/rest-strengthens-the-body-the-mind-too-is-thus-supported-but/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [“O God, who is ever at work and ever at rest. May I be ever at work and ever at rest.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/o-god-who-is-ever-at-work-and-ever-at-rest-may-i-be-ever-at-work-and/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [If I rest, if I think inward, I go mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/if-i-rest-if-i-think-inward-i-go-mad/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [If you have to, take a break, go to your corner, get some sleep, but don't ever give up. You will get there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-cunningham/if-you-have-to-take-a-break-go-to-your-corner-get-some-sleep-but-don/) [Colin Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-cunningham/) > [In work we act under the predominant motive of external, rational necessities; in pleasure, under the predominant motive of other, equally general necessities of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolay-chernyshevsky/in-work-we-act-under-the-predominant-motive-of-external-rational/) Nikolay Chernyshevsky > [“My parents took us to dinner but we came back early. 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