Quotes about mediocrity

Your failure may put smiles on people’s faces while your success squeezes tears from their eyes. Don’t be deceived it’s just a charm to entice you to fall in love with mediocrity!

Excuses the great chains that entangle purposeful life to the pillar of unpurposeful living

Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself but talent instantly recognizes genius.

Mediocrity is always in a rush but whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing with consideration. For genius is nothing more nor less than doing well what anyone can do badly.

dreamers dream achievers achieve. Some will always dream and some will always achieve

Perseverance - a lowly virtue whereby mediocrity achieves an inglorious success.

I marvel at the placidity of the Utopian who imagines that man is perfectible. There is no denying that the human creature is born selfish, abusive, vile. Just look around you and see. Society cynical and ferocious, the humble heckled and pillaged by the rich traffickers in necessities. Everywhere the triumph of the mediocre and unscrupulous, everywhere the apotheosis of crooked politics and finance. And you think you can make any progress against a stream like that? No, man has never changed. H

Not being impressed by anyone or anything is one of the surest paths to a life of mediocrity.

Individual talent is an obstruction principally among teams that employ the facade of a synergy to diminish the majorities mediocrity.

Everyone, either from modesty or egotism, hides away the best and most delicate of his soul’s possessions; to gain the esteem of others, we must only ever show our ugliest sides; this is how we keep ourselves on the common level

We are not built for mediocrity, but we build it into our lives nonetheless.

In the republic of mediocrity, genius is dangerous.

He was marked out by his relentless ability to find fault with others' mediocrity--suggesting that a certain type of intelligence may be at heart nothing more or less than a superior capacity for dissatisfaction.

Creative people are often found either disagreeable or intimidating by mediocrities.

Too often, we put up with mediocrity, telling ourselves that later in life we’ll do what we want.

Don't Settle for Mediocrity. Strive for Excellence

One of the most terrifying questions of all might be, ‘Will I unleash myself to live before death unleashes me from the ability to be unleashed?’ And in retrospect, maybe it’s not the question that’s terrifying. Maybe what’s terrifying is the answer.

Change makers take risks and are ready to die for excellence than to give excuses and live for mediocrity.

If you stay passionate and committed, mediocrity will never be eager to befriend you.

The difference between a fairly interesting writer and a fascinating writer is that the fascinating writer has a better nose for what genuinely excites him, he is hotter on the trail, he has a better instinct for what is truly alive in him. The worse writer may seem to be more sensible in many ways, but he is less sensible in this vital matter: he cannot distinguish what is full of life from what is only half full or empty of it. And so his writing is less alive, and as a writer he is less alive

Do no drown me with mediocrity, give me passion, desire, make me inhale breaths of lust and love in the dark hours that tingle down my spine...

Monsieur Foinet got up and made as if to go, but he changed his mind, and, stopping, put his hand on Philip's shoulder."But if you were going to ask me my advice, I should say: take your courage in both hands and try your luck at something else. It sounds very hard, but let me tell you this: I would give all I have in the world if someone had given me that advice when I was your age and I had taken it."Philip looked up at him with surprise. The master forced his lips into a smile, but his eyes r

Mediocrity is ‘purpose’ left to rot in minds ensnared in the deluded rationalization that vision is nothing more than a collection of fanciful dreams constructed by an imaginary God.

When we are honest about the limitations we are self imposing it becomes necessary to cry out with determination and state you’ve had enough of the mediocrity of stagnation.

Mediocrity is the companion of passivity and will not heed the call of great things. Courage is the companion of sacrifice and cannot help but heed the call of great things. And we are left of our own accord to choose one or the other.

fear is dangerous but fear is good

Comparing ourselves instead of taking lessons from ourselves is not only a catalyst to diminishing our true purpose but also a great ingredient to thinking negative and staying in mediocrity

humility must not be equated to mediocrity and cowardice

Our actions in the present build the staircase to the future. The question is whether that staircase is going up or down.

What does it mean to be an 'open source' society? What does one mean when one says one has an 'open mind'? Open source means that its a society everybody can work on improving. It has a synergy that allows the best minds to float on top, since there is no entropical hierarchy of mediocrity - once everything stays fluid there is the odd chance for genius elements to actually lead. Such is the case now in Turkey. The protesters are a fluid synergy that have no entropical leadership, and thus the m

To become a better you, admit that you were not born for the floor. Refuse to embrace mediocrity anytime anywhere.

Greatness begins where mediocrity ends.

The reason why one man is great and another man is living in mediocrity is simply because one understood the value of time while the other did not.

Those who do not continuously seek knowledge are content to settle for mediocrity.

EpitaphDen Tigern ertrann ichDie Wanzen nährte ichAufgefressen wurde ichVon den Mittelmäßigkeiten.

Poetry destroyed? Genius banished? No! Mediocrity, no: do not let envy prompt you to the thought. No; they not only live, but reign, and redeem: and without their divine influence spread everywhere, you would be in hell--the hell of your own meanness.

Do you know the hallmark of a second rater? It's resentment of another man's achievement. Those touchy mediocrities who sit trembling lest someone's work prove greater than their own - they have no inkling of the loneliness that comes when you reach the top. The loneliness for an equal - for a mind to respect and an achievement to admire. They bare their teeth at you from out of their rat holes,thinking that you take pleasure in letting your brilliance dim them - while you'd give a year of my li

We don't want to think about our weaknesses. We don't want to talk about them, and we certainly don't want anyone else to point them out. This is a classic sign of mediocrity, and this mediocrity has a firm grip on the Church and humanity at this moment in history.

The world admires wealth and velocity—these are the things for which everyone strives. Railroads, the post, steamboats, and all possible modes of communication are the means by which the world overeducates itself and freezes itself in mediocrity.

It is not within my power to refuse the journey of life regardless of the nature of my fears or the depth of my selfishness, for the definitions of ‘journey’ and ‘life’ are indistinguishably synonymous. I can however sufficiently inhibit them and amply fight them to the point that I have accepted the journey, but the journey is now solely defined as my effort to forsake the journey.

Life without madness is mediocrity.

question the status quo; rebuke the existing rules, though it may be at the discomfort of the masses. They may however come to a later realization that it was really worth it and you may now have the status quo

The illusionists of quantity are performing sleights of hand wherever it concerns the topic of quality. A profession that went from being second in command under the throne, to outsourced to the cheapest external providers, is perhaps one of greatest conflicts of interest society faces today, not to mention the blatant disrespect of the people quality is intended for in the first place.Quality is about ascertaining the absolute best, for the sake of all involved. It therefore, is a lofty profess

I'm going to rub your faces in things you try to avoid. I don't find it strange that all you want to believe is only that which comforts you. How else do humans invent the traps which betray us into mediocrity? How else do we define cowardice?

It is a belief of the mediocre that extreme effort kills.

We’re capable of much more than mediocrity, much more than merely getting by in this world.

We are born winners, but we are hypnotized by the society to succumb to mediocrity and moulded into self-victimization. It is for each one of us to regain our self-geniusness.

To dress up today in the threadbare garments of yesterday is to create an impoverished tomorrow.

When my vision is numbed by apathy and narrowed by mediocrity, I can stand in the presence of great things and fail to see even the smallest of things.

Sadly, I put my dreams to bed long before they ever had the chance to get tired.

You know you've reached a new plateau of group mediocrity when even a Canadian is alarmed by your lack of individuality.

Comfort is not a goal that I seek, rather it is a place that I hide.

We think that boxes take everything that’s bad and they lock all that nasty stuff out, when in reality they take everything that we are and they lock all of those great things in.

Comfort is a stance of avoidance rather than the pursuit of excellence.

Mediocrity is a path cleared by fear, leveled by apathy and paved by comfort.

I might define a ‘journey’ as something that life itself calls me to. And I might then define a ‘trip’ as something I create to avoid a journey by mimicking a journey. And while fear is most certainly part and parcel of both, the latter is emboldened by fear while the former surrenders to it.

By choosing comfort we are in the very same decision choosing to miss every great thing in life, and that thought should be anything but comforting.

Do not get a job for a living. Rather, get work

The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.

The dividing line between those who will be great and those who will be mediocre is the amount of time each person converts into added value to himself.

You were born for more than just living in mediocrity and dying after your time here evaporates.

There is nothing in the world that I loathe more than group activity, that communal bath where the hairy and slippery mix in a multiplication of mediocrity.

We live in an age of mediocrity.

I think we live in an age of increasing mediocrity.

I do respond well to a director, a teacher - someone who doesn't accept mediocrity.

There are certain things in which mediocrity is not to be endured, such as poetry, music, painting, public speaking.

Mechanization best serves mediocrity.

Most of our pocket wisdom is conceived for the use of mediocre people, to discourage them from ambitious attempts, and generally console them in their mediocrity.

Only mediocrity can be trusted to be always at its best.

The general tendency of things throughout the world is to render mediocrity the ascendant power among mankind.

One would like to be grand and heroic, if one could; but if not, why try at all? One wants to be very something, very great, very heroic; or if not that, then at least very stylish and very fashionable. It is this everlasting mediocrity that bores me.

Low standards are a tactic that takes pressure off teachers' unions by accepting mediocrity and failure for kids.

To be alone with myself in the space of silence is horrifying, for I know with the utmost certainty that in that space I will hear the very things that I constantly use the clamor to drown out. And so the question becomes, how long can I keep up all the noise?

Compromise is a sign you'll pass on the road to mediocrity.

Compromise is a sign you'll pass on your way to mediocrity.

It drives me crazy who quickly the great ones get canonized. 'Blah-blah-blah is such a terrible loss.' Does that mean that the death of one mediocre slob is not as terrible? Do fags have to be geniuses to justify living?

I shall be in Paris in two days. Well, all is finished. The waves ofhuman mediocrity rise to the sky and they will engulf the refuge whosedams I open. Ah! courage leaves me, my heart breaks! O Lord, pity theChristian who doubts, the sceptic who would believe, the convict oflife embarking alone in the night, under a sky no longer illumined bythe consoling beacons of ancient faith.

Being famous is not something that would make me feel successful - unless one was striving for mediocrity.

Fame can take interesting men and thrust mediocrity upon them.

Only the mediocre artist is always at his best.

The only sin is mediocrity.

So many people can now write competent stories that the short story is in danger of dying of competence.

Most humans, in varying degrees, are already dead. In one way or another they have lost their dreams, their ambitions, their desire for a better life. They have surrendered their fight for self-esteem and they have compromised their great potential. They have settled for a life of mediocrity, days of despair and nights of tears. They are no more than living deaths confined to cemeteries of their choice. Yet they need not remain in that state. They can be resurrected from their sorry condition. T

To simply survive appears to be the choice of the plodding hoards that wander all around me. Therefore, I’ve adamantly committed to never hoard hoards.

You have the army of mediocrities followed by the multitude of fools. As the mediocrities and the fools always form the immense majority, it is impossible for them to elect an intelligent government.

Mediocrity will never do. You are capable of something better.

One should waste as little effort as possible on improving areas of low competence. It takes far more energy and work to improve from incompetence to mediocrity than it takes to improve from first-rate performance to excellence.

They did not ask my permission for their mediocrity, why should I ask theirs for excellence?

There's never been a better time to let the leaves of mediocrity fall from your tree of life.

Generally places that are comfortable with excellence don’t call themselves centers of excellence. Has anyone heard of a Princeton University Center of Excellence? Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center of Excellence?

Moderation leads to Mediocrity, Intensity leads to Excellence.

Integrity is the antithesis of compromise and the sworn enemy of comfort. It bases its decisions not on how much discomfort we might be able to avoid, but on how much we need to avoid the compromise of comfort.

Stupidity lies in wanting to draw conclusions.

it is not only what we have that enhance our dignity but what we do with what we have also magnifies our reputation to the highest level

A gifted violin player in danger of becoming a virtuoso and thus too attached to his instrument handed it over to the Oneida authorities and never played again. When a visiting Canadian teacher complained that the community did not foster “genius or special talent,” Noyes was delighted, replying, “We never expected or desired to produce a Byron, a Napoleon, or a Michelangelo.” You know you've reached a new plateau of group mediocrity when even a Canadian is alarmed by your lack of individuality.

There is something maddening about mediocrity that calls forth the worst in those who are forced to deal with it.

Life is too short to chase perfection, yet too long to be satisfied with mediocrity.

In the race of life I would rather to be around the best and sink than to be around mediocrity and swim.

The highest level than can be reached by a mediocre but experienced mind is a talent for uncovering the weaknesses of those greater than itself.