Extracts from the Book 'EXCELLENCE' by J.W. Gardner

Summary

This three-page extract sheet reproduces twelve quotations from J. W. Gardner’s book “EXCELLENCE,” with references to chapters and printed pages ranging from 23 to 155. The selections argue that societies require vigorous leadership, initiative, talent, motivation, and shared purpose, while warning against egalitarian systems that suppress distinction and excellence. They treat education as a process of sorting and preparation, and leadership selection as requiring rigorous attention to ability and character.

Key points

• The extracts defend leadership, initiative, and personal excellence against what they describe as the deadening effects of extreme egalitarianism.
• National wealth is presented as dependent not only on material resources but also on the number of superior and capable people a nation produces.
• Education is described as a sorting-out process, illustrated by a claim about the occupational choices of nineteenth-century German university students.
• The selections distinguish between a person’s private identity and their role within an employment system.
• Effective leadership selection should screen for motivation and character as well as superior ability.
• The text presents high motivation as a scarce social resource and argues that institutions may need barriers or rigorous procedures to identify it.
• The extracts connect excellence with social purpose, shared national aims, and the possibility of collective greatness.