From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordExcellency is the quality by which something is especially good, admirable, or fit for its purpose.
- In TraherneTraherne discovers excellence through relations and capacities.
- In this edition“Excellency” normally carries an evaluative sense, not the modern form of address “Your Excellency.”
- A place to beginThe excellence of Christ’s person magnifies the worth of his voluntary condescension.
Meaning
Excellency is the quality by which something is especially good, admirable, or fit for its purpose. The plural often names particular perfections rather than titled persons.
Use in the book
Traherne discovers excellence through relations and capacities. Christ’s dignity makes his condescension more, not less, astonishing; the lowliness of the act does not erase the worth of the person performing it. Human excellence lies partly in the soul’s comprehensiveness and ability to use objects far beyond bodily scale. Such claims require exercise and discernment, not an assumption that every human action is excellent. The soul can fail to live according to its own gifts, which makes its capacity a summons as well as a privilege.
Places to read
In this edition
“Excellency” normally carries an evaluative sense, not the modern form of address “Your Excellency.” Ask which particular capacity, perfection, or relation makes the object excellent.