As human beings, our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

Oliver Goldsmith said that first, but every moment we get to put that attitude into practice, making it into a habit, by being excellent.

As Ralph Marston said...

Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.

Everything is deeply interconnected. Aristotle (or Will Durant) has been oft-quoted, too...

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.

Robert F. Kennedy had another variation on this theme, when RFK said,

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.

In other words, a fall is not a fail... It is an opportunity to learn. We can remind ourselves of this by singing (or dancing to!) Chumbawumba's "Tubthumping", boldly declaring...

I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down...

"Tubthumping" is much catchier than Dwayne Wade's "fall seven times, stand up eight" commercial, which repurposes an old martial arts line...

Knocked down seven times, get up eight!

...which simply takes us back to our daily reflection and incantation...

Be excellent, for everything is about inclusion.

...so get yourself some rituals...

...don't just be a cat in a box like all the other cats...

...and practice inner peace, because in the end, only kindness matters...

 Be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle.

"The reason we fall is to learn to pick ourselves up." -- Batman

http://www.quora.com/Adam-Rifkin/Every-time-you-fall-down-get-up

Actually, it was Alfred who said, "Why do we fall sir? So we might learn to pick ourselves up..."

Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372784/quotes?qt0470010

I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that's why I succeed. ~Michael Jordan

http://106miles.net/convo/117/ive-failed-over-and-over-and-over-again-in-my-l...

Always be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle. ~Plato

http://ifindkarma.tumblr.com/post/13807475453/bekind

Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are. ~Malcolm S. Forbes

http://www.facebook.com/adam.rifkin/posts/10150406992820415

Master your instrument, master the music, and then forget all that bullshit and just play. ~Charlie Parker

http://www.facebook.com/adam.rifkin/posts/10150406757865415

Success is never final, failure is never fatal. ~John Wooden

http://www.facebook.com/adam.rifkin/posts/10150405085585415

They told me I didn't understand the assignment and I told them they didn't understand life.

http://ifindkarma.tumblr.com/post/13845580405/too-many-people-overvalue-what-...

There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.

http://ifindkarma.posterous.com/there-is-no-way-to-happiness-happiness-is-the

Life has many different chapters for us.One bad chapter doesn't mean it's the end of the book.

http://ifindkarma.tumblr.com/post/13846224101/life-has-many-different-chapter...

If you've never failed, then you've never lived. Life = Risk ...

Learning is a gift. Even when pain is your teacher.

http://ifindkarma.tumblr.com/post/14287889667/learning-is-a-gift-even-when-pa...

I know that it hurts, but keep trying.

http://ifindkarma.tumblr.com/post/14332748423/i-know-that-it-hurts-but-keep-t...

It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up.

http://ifindkarma.tumblr.com/post/14332634365/its-not-whether-you-get-knocked...

If we all do one random act of kindness daily, we just might set the world in the right direction. ~Martin Kornfeld

http://ifindkarma.tumblr.com/post/14331993063/if-we-all-do-one-random-act-of-...

Having courage does not mean we are unafraid.Having courage and showing courage means we face our fears.

We are able to say, "I have fallen, but I will get up."

~ Maya Angelou

http://ifindkarma.tumblr.com/post/17669774566/we-are-able-to-say-i-have-falle...

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you. You just gotta find the ones worth suffering for.

http://pandawhale.com/post/8135/truth-is-everybody-is-going-to-hurt-you-you-just-gotta-find-the-ones-worth-suffering-for