excelsior

There was with him a whole host of moral heroes, who, conscious of their power to win the victory , and quickened by the inspirations which they received from that higher state of being, were striving, by the excelsior movement of the soul, to attain to those glory-encircled heights from whence they could look calmly down upon the plane of their earthly existence.

1865, Lizzie Doten, Poems from the Inner Life, page 154

At this crisis, reverberating among the pines, rang out more distinctly the voice of the excelsior man , urging me to come on. "Oh! I'm all right down here," I answered, gasping for breath.

1890, Henry Brainard Kent, Graphic Sketches of the West, page 69

Without comparisons, the beautiful is neither felt nor understood, so that it is the excelsior of the normal type, it is the true + x; it is the splendour of the true.

2008 February 16, Paolo Mantegazza, Physiology of Love and Other Writings, University of Toronto Press, →ISBN, page 489

... many people feel that having plastic surgery is a kind of rebirth. I think she felt that every time she had it, it was reinventing herself. It was excelsior, it was higher, it was better.

2016 July 12, Gerri Hirshey, Not Pretty Enough: The Unlikely Triumph of Helen Gurley Brown, Macmillan + ORM, →ISBN

... and when the shout 'Excelsior!' echoed, up the oaken heights, Two hundred heels went thundering all at once, Four stairs at every jump

1851, The Knickerbacker, page 236

Adventurous spirits cried "Excelsior," but having had enough of climbing, with several friends we retraced our steps, and reached the farms, where little girls brought us plates of raspberries, currants, and cherries for a consideration.

1890, Berwickshire Naturalists' Club (Scotland)., History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club: Instituted September 22, 1831, page 90

He makes a fake snorting noises with his nose and says “Excelsior to you too then, man” as he pushes up imaginary glasses on his face as if I'm the nerd.

2014 November 10, Matthew L. Williams, Truth Is, You're Still Dreaming, AuthorHouse, →ISBN

Comic-Con International in San Diego is the exemplar of the con experience. Hold your breath, prepare your Sonic Screwdriver or Batarang, and dive right in. Excelsior!

2018 April 1, Lonely Planet, Mark Andrew, Amy C Balfour, Sarah Baxter, Andrew Bender, Sara Benson, Alison Bing, Nate Cavalieri, Lisa Dunford, Tom Hall, Lonely Planet Experience USA, Lonely Planet, →ISBN, page 224

These little mangers, with baby dolls representing Jesus, porcelean Josephs and Marys, wide-eyed cows of papier-mâché, and excelsior for straw, were purchased by pious parents for well-behaved children at Christmas-tide.

1942, Elliot Paul, The Last Time I Saw Paris, Sickle Moon, published 2001, page 91

Working both [of them] at Kroll's then, she selling candy and cashews in a white smock with "Jan" stitched on her pocket and he lugging easy chairs and maple end tables around on the floor above, hammering apart packing crates from nine to five, the itch of the packing excelsior getting into his nose and eyes and making them burn.

1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 13