What Does Bring Out the Best Mean?

Bring Out the Best in Me Meaning

Definition: To bring attention to or to foster the best qualities in a person.

To bring out the best in someone is to create the circumstances where someone exhibits his or her best qualities, which are usually strength, kindness, patience, or courage.

These qualities are already in the person, but they are not always seen and need to be brought out of the individual.

Origin of Bring Out the Best

you brought the best out of meTo bring out is to extract. Variations of extracting the best from someone have been around since the late 1800s, as this excerpt from A Little Mother to the Others by L.T. Meade, from 1896, shows,

  • She always knew exactly how to manage him, how to bring out his fine points.

The turn of the century brought with it many examples of bringing out the best of something, but it wasn’t until 1914 that Temple Bailey, in Contrary Mary, wrote about bringing out the best in a person:

  • She has courage and force, and the need of some big thing in her life to bring out her best.

bringing out the best in meEarlier examples can be seen in the 1911 Bryan Daily Eagle and Pilot,

  • The preliminaries have brought out the best material among the high schools.

Also, in the May 1912 edition of The Liberal Democrat,

  • The track meet and literary contest held here last Saturday was a test that brought out the best talent in them all.

Examples of Bring Out the Best

In the modern day, it is very common to say that someone or something brings out the best in someone.

For example,

  • The crisis brought out the best in our community. Everyone worked together to make sure everyone was okay.

-or-

  • My husband brings out the best in me, and he makes me want to be a better person.

More Examples

  • “He was absolutely joyful and brought out the best in everybody,” said Cheryl Vaughan, his wife of 42 years… “He was funny, enthusiastic, encouraging, zealous, and passionate.” –Florida Times-Union
  • Bower emphasized that the biggest thing her father took to the district was a fresh attitude, which brought out the best in those around him. –Williamsport Sun-Gazette

Summary

If you bring out the best in someone, you encourage him or her to display the finest qualities possible.

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