Try to be better than yourself

I am a keen fan of Criminal Minds and for those that know this TV series, then you will know that each episode starts with and ends with a quotation.
Here is the ending quote from the episode called “Compulsion”, from series 1:

"Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself”

~ William Faulkner
Winner The Nobel Prize in Literature 1949

Biography

Born 1897. Died 1962.
Came from an old southern family, grew up in Oxford, Mississippi.
He joined the Canadian Air Force and  later the  Royal Air Force during World War 1.
Studied at the University of Mississippi. Worked for a bookstore in New York and a newspaper , in New Orleans
Travelled to Europe and Asia and worked as a Scriptwriter in Hollywood.
Most of his novels and short stories were written on a farm in Oxford.

source quote criminalmindsfanwiki.com bio nobelprize.org