--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That which you term \"moderation\", I call…" description: "\"“That which you term \"moderation\", I call \"mediocrity”\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0aa/friedrich-nietzsche-15_quote_that-which-you-term-moderation-i-call-me_1916269.jpg" --- # That which you term "moderation", I call "mediocrity ![“That which you term "moderation", I call "mediocrity” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0aa/friedrich-nietzsche-15_quote_that-which-you-term-moderation-i-call-me_1916269.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0aa/friedrich-nietzsche-15_quote_that-which-you-term-moderation-i-call-me_1916269.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0aa/friedrich-nietzsche-15_quote_that-which-you-term-moderation-i-call-me_1916269.jpg) > ““That which you term "moderation", I call "mediocrity”” [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Moderation is equated with mediocrity, suggesting that true excellence requires embracing extremes. **In simple terms:** Moderation equals mediocrity. Key Takeaway Embrace boldness over moderation. Themes excellence individualism risk Mood provocative thought‑provoking Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - creative work - personal growth - leadership Key Concepts Nietzschean philosophy critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - When is moderation beneficial? - How to balance boldness with practicality? A Different Perspective Extreme approaches can be unsustainable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Mediocrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mediocrity/) [Moderation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moderation/) [Moderation Mediocrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moderation-mediocrity-1528739/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) [Term Moderation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term-moderation-2915280/) ## Related quotes > [Moderation? It's mediocrity, fear, and confusion in disguise. It's the devil's dilemma. It's neither doing nor not doing. It's the wobbling compromise that makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/moderation-it-s-mediocrity-fear-and-confusion-in-disguise-it-s-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Moderation, the Golden Mean, the Aristonmetron, is the secret of wisdom and of happiness. But it does not mean embracing an unadventurous mediocrity; rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/moderation-the-golden-mean-the-aristonmetron-is-the-secret-of-wisdom/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [People who, out of an inborn moderation, leave every glass standing only half-emptied refuse to admit that everything in the world has its sediments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/people-who-out-of-an-inborn-moderation-leave-every-glass-standing/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Moderation sees itself as beautiful; it is unaware that in the eye of the immoderate it appears black and sober and consequently ugly-looking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/moderation-sees-itself-as-beautiful-it-is-unaware-that-in-the-eye-of/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It is not your sin - it is your moderation that cries to heaven; your very sparingness in sin cries to heaven!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-not-your-sin-it-is-your-moderation-that-cries-to-heaven-your/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [We do not by any means think it desirable that the kingdom of righteousness and peace should be established on earth (because under any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-do-not-by-any-means-think-it-desirable-that-the-kingdom-of/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [To the mediocre, mediocrity is a form of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/to-the-mediocre-mediocrity-is-a-form-of-happiness/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [...virtue is attended by more peace of mind than vice, and meets with a more favourable reception from the world. I am sensible, that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/virtue-is-attended-by-more-peace-of-mind-than-vice-and-meets-with-a/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [“A life lived in moderation is a story nobody would read, much less live”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-a-keene/a-life-lived-in-moderation-is-a-story-nobody-would-read-much-less-live/) [D.A. Keene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-a-keene/) > [The boundary of man is moderation. When once we pass that pale our guardian angel quits his charge of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-feltham/the-boundary-of-man-is-moderation-when-once-we-pass-that-pale-our/) [Owen Feltham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-feltham/) > [Be a pattern to others, and then all will go well; for as a whole city is affected by the licentious passions and vices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/be-a-pattern-to-others-and-then-all-will-go-well-for-as-a-whole-city/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Moderation is a fatal thing. Enough is as bad as a meal. More than enough is as good as a feast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/moderation-is-a-fatal-thing-enough-is-as-bad-as-a-meal-more-than/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Phillip, who is congenitally incapable of moderation,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tropper/phillip-who-is-congenitally-incapable-of-moderation/) [Jonathan Tropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tropper/) > [There has been a tendency through the years for reason and moderation to prevail as long as things are going tolerably well or as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/there-has-been-a-tendency-through-the-years-for-reason-and-moderation/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [Moderation, honey, in all things but love and chocolate. That's my motto.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-bretton/moderation-honey-in-all-things-but-love-and-chocolate-that-s-my-motto/) [Barbara Bretton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-bretton/) ## More by Friedrich Nietzsche > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Every select man strives instinctively for a citadel and a privacy, where he is FREE from the crowd, the many, the majority-- where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-select-man-strives-instinctively-for-a-citadel-and-a-privacy/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“It breaks my heart. Better than your words, your eye tells me all your peril. You are not yet free, you still search for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-breaks-my-heart-better-than-your-words-your-eye-tells-me-all-your/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“79. A soul which knows that it is loved, but does not itself love, betrays its sediment: its dregs come up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/79-a-soul-which-knows-that-it-is-loved-but-does-not-itself-love/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [We deceive ourselves when giving respect to the person for whom we have surrendered ourselves, when we respectively expect them to be as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-deceive-ourselves-when-giving-respect-to-the-person-for-whom-we/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“The great periods of our life occur when we gain the courage to rechristen what is bad about us as what is best.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-great-periods-of-our-life-occur-when-we-gain-the-courage-to/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“What is life? Life - that is: continually shedding something that wants to die. Life - that is: being cruel and inexorable against everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-is-life-life-that-is-continually-shedding-something-that-wants/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It is thus only this personal feeling of misery that we get rid of by acts of pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-thus-only-this-personal-feeling-of-misery-that-we-get-rid-of-by/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/writers-whose-thoughts-are-expressed-with-clarity-and-precision-are/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“he does not wear a twitching, mobile, human face, but rather a mask, as it were, with its features in dignified equilibrium; he does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/he-does-not-wear-a-twitching-mobile-human-face-but-rather-a-mask-as/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Chastity is a virtue with some, but with many it is almost a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/chastity-is-a-virtue-with-some-but-with-many-it-is-almost-a-vice/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The earth is like the breasts of a woman: useful as well as pleasing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-earth-is-like-the-breasts-of-a-woman-useful-as-well-as-pleasing/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Of all that is written I love only what a man has written in his own blood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/of-all-that-is-written-i-love-only-what-a-man-has-written-in-his-own/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Pain makes hens and poets cackle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/pain-makes-hens-and-poets-cackle/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) [Explore all 3,486 Friedrich Nietzsche quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## More Mediocrity quotes > [Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/mediocrity-knows-nothing-higher-than-itself-but-talent-instantly/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [It is an error common to many artists, who strive merely to avoid mistakes, when all our efforts should be to create positive and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-steichen/it-is-an-error-common-to-many-artists-who-strive-merely-to-avoid/) [Edward Steichen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-steichen/) > [Only mediocrity can be trusted to be always at its best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-beerbohm/only-mediocrity-can-be-trusted-to-be-always-at-its-best/) [Max Beerbohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-beerbohm/) > [Let America first praise mediocrity even, in her children, before she praises... the best excellence in the children of any other land.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/let-america-first-praise-mediocrity-even-in-her-children-before-she/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [If you want to be average, do what others do. If you want to be awesome, do what no one does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-den-heijer/if-you-want-to-be-average-do-what-others-do-if-you-want-to-be-awesome/) [Alexander Den Heijer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-den-heijer/) > [There has been an obvious effort to play it safe, to make 'Bonanza' a good family show that would offend no one and hit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pernell-roberts/there-has-been-an-obvious-effort-to-play-it-safe-to-make-bonanza-a/) [Pernell Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pernell-roberts/) > [Philadelphians are every whit as mediocre as their neighbors, but they seldom encourage each other in mediocrity by giving it a more agreeable name.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/philadelphians-are-every-whit-as-mediocre-as-their-neighbors-but-they/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [Once you decide that mediocrity is unthinkable, your only choices are excellence and quitting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-murray/once-you-decide-that-mediocrity-is-unthinkable-your-only-choices-are/) [Nick Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-murray/) > [At independence Kenya's economic indicators were equal to those of South Korea, but 45 years down the road, Korea's economy is 40 times that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raila-odinga/at-independence-kenya-s-economic-indicators-were-equal-to-those-of/) [Raila Odinga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raila-odinga/) > [Trying to be cool is the easiest path to mediocrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-crews/trying-to-be-cool-is-the-easiest-path-to-mediocrity/) [Terry Crews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-crews/) > [All greatness of character is dependent on individuality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-f-cooper/all-greatness-of-character-is-dependent-on-individuality/) [James F. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-f-cooper/) > [When Americans decry our politicians, we must remember that ultimately, politicians reflect us. When we demand more than mediocrity - and the passing comforts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-m-strock/when-americans-decry-our-politicians-we-must-remember-that-ultimately/) [James M Strock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-m-strock/) > [We will meet our challenges head on and we will do it by rejecting the politics of mediocrity and corruption. You voted for change;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-blagojevich/we-will-meet-our-challenges-head-on-and-we-will-do-it-by-rejecting/) [Rod Blagojevich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-blagojevich/) > [The greatest danger to Christianity is, I contend, not heresies, not heterodoxies, not atheists, not profane secularism - no, but the kind of orthodoxy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-greatest-danger-to-christianity-is-i-contend-not-heresies-not/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) [Browse all 929 Mediocrity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mediocrity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“That which you term \"moderation\", I call \"mediocrity”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/that-which-you-term-moderation-i-call-mediocrity/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Mediocrity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/that-which-you-term-moderation-i-call-mediocrity/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0aa/friedrich-nietzsche-15_quote_that-which-you-term-moderation-i-call-me_1916269.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0aa/friedrich-nietzsche-15_quote_that-which-you-term-moderation-i-call-me_1916269.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0aa/friedrich-nietzsche-15_quote_that-which-you-term-moderation-i-call-me_1916269.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That which you term \"moderation\", I call \"mediocrity” — Friedrich Nietzsche", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“That which you term \"moderation\", I...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/that-which-you-term-moderation-i-call-mediocrity/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/that-which-you-term-moderation-i-call-mediocrity/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```