“If you want the best the world has to offer, offer the world your best.”

As quoted in "The Art of Connection – A Conversation with Alain de Botton" by Kim Nagy in Wild River Review (19 November 2007).
Context: I think where people tend to end up results from a combination of encouragement, accident, and lucky break, etc. etc. Like many others, my career happened like it did because certain doors opened and certain doors closed. You know, at a certain point I thought it would be great to make film documentaries. Well, in fact, I found that to be incredibly hard and very expensive to do and I didn’t really have the courage to keep battling away at that. In another age, I might have been an academic in a university, if the university system had been different. So it’s all about trying to find the best fit between your talents and what the world can offer at that point in time.

Source: A Dictionary of Thoughts, 1891, p. 483.

Source: I Capture the Castle

Source: No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

Source: So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

Variant: If you love someone, the greatest gift you can give them is your presence
Source: No Death, No Fear

Source: The Rustler

Source: 2000s, Lines marking the introduction of Trump Steaks by The Sharper Image (2007)