Mediocrity Quotes · Page 19

“The only sin is mediocrity. (While widely attributed to Martha Graham she attributed this to her father)”

— Martha Graham

We are the mediocre, we are the half givers, we are the half lovers, we are the savourless salt. Break the hard…

— Caryll Houselander

Our literature, despite several false starts that promised much, is chiefly remarkable, now as always, for its respectable mediocrity.

— H. L. Mencken

The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity, since the tastes, knowledge, and principles of the majority form the tribunal…

— James F. Cooper

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

— Sarah Vowell

We live in an age of mediocrity. Stars today are not the same stature as Bogie [Humphrey Bogart], James Cagney, Spencer Tracy,…

— Lauren Bacall

Fear causes people to draw back from situations. It brings on mediocrity, it dulls creativity, it sets one up to be a…

— Fran Tarkenton

The mass never comes up to the standard of its best member, but on the contrary degrades itself to a level with…

— Henry David Thoreau

Mediocrity cherishes rules; as for me, I hate them; I feel for them and for every restriction, corporation, caste, hierarchy, level, herd,…

— Gustave Flaubert

You have to have a habitual vision of greatness ... you have to believe in fact that you will refuse to settle…

— Cornel West

The worst is being stuck in a quagmire of mediocrity, i.e. things are going reasonably well, but not spectacularly well. The reason…

— Ritu Ghatourey

Things can change only through strong personalities. I am not very good at supporting ignorance and mediocrity, so maybe this leads to…

— Edi Rama

Not all offers I get are exciting and inspiring. I would rather sit at home and not work than jump into mediocrity…

— Rani Mukerji

nobody means to get carried away in mediocrity, but it happens, it happens unless you think about everything you do, unless you…

— Richard Bach

There is a certain hidden mediocrity in those who are stationed above us in life, an ability to take liberties in their…

— Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable

The key to pursuing excellence is to embrace an organic, long-term learning process, and not to live in a shell of static,…

— Anonymous

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

— William Hurt

Just as your hand has the power to hide the sun, mediocrity has the power to hide your inner light. Do not…

— Paulo Coelho

Why settle for mediocre if there is even the slightest chance for something amazing? Because you can never settle if you keep…

— Anonymous

No wonder we are all more or less pleased with mediocrity, since it leaves us at rest, and gives the same comfortable…

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“If a book can save—redeem us from the mediocrity of the mundane—surely, there must be a God.”

— Chila Woychik

Moderation assures mediocrity -- nice, safe. Mediocrity is for the mediocre -- simple, okay. The intense rule; the mediocre follow.

— Dave Draper

A common danger tends to concord. Communism is the exploitation of the strong by the weak. In Communism, inequality comes from placing…

— Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

Channel your emotion into the excellence of doing something rather than the mediocrity of deciding whether or not to do it.

— Rory Vaden

You must have the guts to throw off the chains of modesty and mediocrity in order to be the light that the…

— Debbie Ford

Only mediocrities progress. An artist revolves in a cycle of masterpieces, the first of which is no less perfect than the last.

— Oscar Wilde

“Had you been able to guess bits of my destiny, Perhaps you would bear your mediocrity with more ease.”

— Czeslaw Milosz

I could've just walked away but I never could have forgiven myself to allow Starbucks to drift into mediocrity or not be…

— Howard Schultz

Our poetry emulates the recent progress in military strategy: Our army's strength is the foot soldiers.

— Franz Grillparzer

People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.

— Andrew Carnegie

“Here we begin frank speculation. And since we are speculating, we'll use those powerful pseudo-laws, the Principles of Mediocrity and Minimal Assumption.”

— Vernor Vinge

One mustn't mistake bling for excellence, just as one mustn't mistake quiet for mediocre.

— Kevin McCloud

You can raise the bar or you can wait for others to raise it, but it's getting raised regardless.

— Seth Godin

Once you decide that mediocrity is unthinkable, your only choices are excellence and quitting.

— Nick Murray

Pessimists are second rate people. They do not believe in life. ... All they want to do is drag you down and…

— Uell Stanley Andersen

As we celebrate mediocrity, all the boys upstairs want to see. How much you'll pay for what you used to get for…

— Tom Petty

Beware the mediocrity that threatens middle age, its limitation of thought and interest, its dullness of fancy, its too external life, and…

— Margaret Fuller

We live in a world where mediocrity is the norm. Strive for excellence, and you will stand out.

— Anonymous

I have a low tolerance for mediocrity in music and life. I'm into pain and joy and the in-between doesn't interest me.

— Steve Earle

Only ambitious nonentities and hearty mediocrities exhibit their rough drafts. It's like passing around samples of sputum.

— Vladimir Nabokov