On criticism (in football practice): An assistant coach in a dialogue after a tough practice: "Coach Graham rode you pretty hard, didn't he?" "Yeah." "That's a good thing. When you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they've given up on you." That lesson stuck with me my whole life. When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody's bothering to tell you anymore, that's a bad place to be. You may not want to hear it, but your critics are often the ones telling you they still love you and care about you, and want to make you better. (Plutarch has an essay on the good of enemies that I'll find for all of us another Thursday - how we rise above mediocrity if we are being critiqued...).
* The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch