Upvote:2
It is very similar to, and I suspect based on, another quote:
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.
This version is frequently attributed to Ernest Hemingway, after appearing in a posthumous Playboy article of dubious authenticity in 1963, however its earliest appearance in this form is from a sermon in 1897:
Remember that there is nothing noble in being superior to some other man. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.
- “What to Believe: An Ethical Creed”, W. L. Sheldon, (Ethical Addresses) (1897)