"Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard master to yourself and be lenient to everybody else."
Explanation
This quote is basically saying: be tougher on yourself than the world is, but softer on others than they “deserve.” It’s not about beating yourself up; it’s about owning your choices. Instead of blaming traffic, your boss, or “how you are,” you quietly hold yourself to a higher bar. You do the extra prep, you apologize first, you follow through even when no one’s watching.
At the same time, you give other people some slack. You assume they’re trying, even when they fall short. In real life, that looks like staying late to fix your own mistake, but not exploding when someone else makes theirs. It’s a way to grow strong without growing hard.