Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well. — Voltaire
—What lingers after this line?
The Gift Hidden in Admiration
At first glance, Voltaire’s remark seems simple, yet it contains a generous idea: when we truly appreciate another person’s excellence, we do not merely observe it from a distance—we participate in it. Admiration becomes a form of inner enrichment, allowing courage, beauty, intelligence, or kindness in others to enlarge our own emotional and moral world. In this way, appreciation is not passive praise but active recognition. Rather than shrinking us by comparison, it broadens us through connection. Voltaire suggests that excellence is not a private possession sealed within one person; through sincere appreciation, it becomes something shared, almost communal.
Why Envy Divides and Appreciation Unites
From there, the quote gains even more force when set against its opposite: envy. Envy sees another’s gifts as a threat, making excellence feel scarce and competitive. Appreciation, by contrast, turns the same encounter into abundance. What another person does well need not diminish us; instead, it can inspire gratitude and aspiration. This distinction appears throughout moral thought. Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics (4th century BC) treats virtue as something recognizable and admirable in others, suggesting that good character can be learned through attention and imitation. Thus, appreciation becomes a bridge, replacing resentment with a desire to grow.
Learning by Loving What Is Good
As this idea unfolds, appreciation begins to look like an education of the soul. We often become like what we repeatedly honor. If we notice patience in a teacher, integrity in a friend, or artistic brilliance in a writer, our admiration trains our judgment. Over time, what we praise externally starts shaping us internally. Plato’s Symposium (c. 385–370 BC) presents love of beauty as a ladder that leads the mind upward from particular attractions to higher truths. Voltaire’s insight works in a similar register: by appreciating what is excellent, we cultivate the ability to recognize and absorb value. The act of noticing becomes the beginning of transformation.
Appreciation as a Social Force
Moreover, appreciation does more than refine individuals; it strengthens communities. In workplaces, families, and friendships, people flourish when their strengths are genuinely seen. A brief word of recognition can confirm effort, encourage talent, and deepen trust. What is excellent in one person then circulates outward, becoming part of a shared culture rather than a solitary achievement. Modern leadership studies often echo this principle. For example, Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton’s Now, Discover Your Strengths (2001) argues that people thrive when strengths are noticed and developed rather than ignored. Voltaire’s sentence anticipates this modern insight: appreciation multiplies value by making excellence visible and contagious.
The Humility Required to Appreciate
Yet appreciation is not always easy, because it requires humility. To admire someone honestly, we must admit that goodness exists outside ourselves and that we need not own it to benefit from it. This runs against vanity, which prefers comparison and control. Appreciation asks for openness instead—a willingness to be delighted by another person’s gifts. That humility, however, is precisely what makes appreciation liberating. Once we stop guarding our ego, another’s talent no longer threatens our worth. Instead, it becomes a source of joy. In that sense, Voltaire presents appreciation not just as a courtesy, but as a disciplined way of seeing the world generously.
Making Excellence Part of Our Lives
Finally, Voltaire’s quote invites practice. To appreciate well, we must pay attention: to the friend who listens deeply, the colleague who works carefully, the artist who reveals truth through form. Such recognition is more than complimenting others; it is a way of choosing what we allow to shape our inner life. Seen this way, appreciation becomes a quiet form of possession without theft. We do not take excellence from others; we are enlarged by honoring it. And so Voltaire leaves us with a hopeful moral lesson: the more sincerely we appreciate what is best in others, the richer we ourselves become.
One-minute reflection
Why might this line matter today, not tomorrow?
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