For example, most professional baseball players bat an average of about .250, which means that they get one hit for every four times at bat. This is viewed as a respectable average, and if a batter is also a good fielder, he can expect to enjoy a secure career in the major leagues. Anyone who hits .300—three hits out of ten at bat—is considered a star. By the end of the season there are perhaps only a dozen players (out of hundreds in the leagues) who have maintained a .300 average, and these hitters are honored as the great ones. They get the big contracts, the acclaim, and the athletic-shoe commercials.

What is the difference between the greats and the also-rans? One hit in twenty! A .250 hitter gets five hits out of twenty, and a .300 hitter gets six hits out of twenty. In the world of baseball one hit out of twenty is the margin of greatness! This slim margin of greatness symbolizes the dynamics of greatness in life. When we exercise just a tiny bit more of our potential—a minuscule amount—we become outstanding human beings.

The purpose of my being is not to win acclaim or glory but to be more of what I can be.