[Henri J. M.] Nouwen believes that we live in a culture whose chief standard of success is upward mobility: the frenetic and utterly self-absorbed scramble to scratch and claw one's way to the top of the food chain. The supreme values of an ethos of upward mobility are strength, efficiency, and success. Excellence is one of its favorite buzzwords, a euphemism that basically signifies coming out on top at any price. A person or nation striving for "excellence" is properly contemptuous of weakness, indifferent to the needs of others, and suspicious of friendly overtures from strangers.
— Kerry Walters, Jacob's Hip