About this quote

Treating an achievement as the gift of a rare few quietly excuses everyone else from trying. The opposite assumption — that a breakthrough by one person maps a path the rest can walk — turns extraordinary examples into ordinary invitations. No one is exempt, and no one is uniquely chosen.

When to use it

• A first-generation student who reaches medical school shows the younger kids on her block that the same door is open to them.
• A runner breaks a barrier everyone called impossible, and within a year a dozen others match the time.
• A neighbor who quits smoking becomes living proof to the whole family that the habit can actually be beaten.