--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ninety percent of my work is crap,” he…" description: "\"“Ninety percent of my work is crap,” he continued. “Another nine percent is mediocre, and then there are those rare gems that are actually useable.”\" —..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/olivia-cunning-2251_mediocre_ninety-percent-of-my-work-is-crap-he-con_2612046.jpg" --- # Ninety percent of my work is crap,” he continued. “Another… ![“Ninety percent of my work is crap,” he continued. “Another nine percent is mediocre, and then there are those rare gems that are actually useable.” quote by Olivia Cunning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/olivia-cunning-2251_mediocre_ninety-percent-of-my-work-is-crap-he-con_2612046.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/olivia-cunning-2251_mediocre_ninety-percent-of-my-work-is-crap-he-con_2612046.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/olivia-cunning-2251_mediocre_ninety-percent-of-my-work-is-crap-he-con_2612046.jpg) > ““Ninety percent of my work is crap,” he continued. “Another nine percent is mediocre, and then there are those rare gems that are actually useable.”” [Olivia Cunning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-cunning/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A candid assessment of creative work: most is poor, a small fraction mediocre, and rare gems are truly usable. **In simple terms:** Most work is bad; few pieces are valuable. Key Takeaway Strive for the gems. Themes creativity self‑critique quality Mood critical honest Type reflective professional When to use this quote - writing - design - software development Key Concepts creative process productivity Questions to Reflect On - How do you identify a “gem” in your work? - What steps improve overall quality? A Different Perspective Harsh self‑assessment may discourage. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [Ninety-nine percent of all work on self is attitudinal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-j-gold/ninety-nine-percent-of-all-work-on-self-is-attitudinal/) E. J. Gold > [Ninety-five percent of my work is being mayor. But that 5% that nags at all of us - of what's going wrong in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-garcetti/ninety-five-percent-of-my-work-is-being-mayor-but-that-5-that-nags-at/) [Eric Garcetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-garcetti/) > [“No one ever says, “This piece of creative work is crap, but they made it in a couple of weeks, so let’s go and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-izzard/no-one-ever-says-this-piece-of-creative-work-is-crap-but-they-made-it/) [Eddie Izzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-izzard/) > [“is 100 percent the work of God and, just for that reason, it is to engage 100 percent of the activity of the believer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-b-jr-gaffin/is-100-percent-the-work-of-god-and-just-for-that-reason-it-is-to/) [Richard B. Jr. Gaffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-b-jr-gaffin/) > [The average American worker has fifty interruptions a day, of which seventy percent have nothing to do with work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-edwards-deming/the-average-american-worker-has-fifty-interruptions-a-day-of-which/) [W. Edwards Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-edwards-deming/) > [Let's face it, 80 percent of the work I do my kids can't see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-pantoliano/let-s-face-it-80-percent-of-the-work-i-do-my-kids-can-t-see/) [Joe Pantoliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-pantoliano/) > [“Economists often talk about the 80/20 Principle, which is the idea that in any situation roughly 80 percent of the “work” will be done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/economists-often-talk-about-the-80-20-principle-which-is-the-idea-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I always have the fear that, if I don't commit 100 percent to my work, then it's gonna suffer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-always-have-the-fear-that-if-i-don-t-commit-100-percent-to-my-work/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [I understand the opposite side of the camera. I have a profound respect for that. I have worked with people who, when you hit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-gyllenhaal/i-understand-the-opposite-side-of-the-camera-i-have-a-profound/) [Jake Gyllenhaal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-gyllenhaal/) > [Ninety percent of our managers started in the hourly ranks or started in the lower ranks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-w-bill-marriott-jr/ninety-percent-of-our-managers-started-in-the-hourly-ranks-or-started/) [J. W. "Bill" Marriott, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-w-bill-marriott-jr/) > [“While you judge me by my outward appearance I am silently doing the same to you, even though there's a ninety-percent chance that in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/while-you-judge-me-by-my-outward-appearance-i-am-silently-doing-the/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [“There's not a branch of publishing or broadcasting that doesn't depend in some way on advertising. It'd be like an aquarium without water. Why,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/there-s-not-a-branch-of-publishing-or-broadcasting-that-doesn-t/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Ninety-nine percent of getting over a problem is mental.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-hopkins/ninety-nine-percent-of-getting-over-a-problem-is-mental/) [Bernard Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-hopkins/) > [Ninety percent of all human wisdom is the ability to mind your own business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ninety-percent-of-all-human-wisdom-is-the-ability-to-mind-your-own/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“Ask anyone; possibly ninety-five percent of their wishes have come true. The unfortunate part is, we all overlook that, and regret all our lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uday-mukerji/ask-anyone-possibly-ninety-five-percent-of-their-wishes-have-come/) Uday Mukerji ## More by Olivia Cunning > [“Without you, I'm nothing. Don't you understand that?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/without-you-i-m-nothing-don-t-you-understand-that/) [Olivia Cunning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-cunning/) > [“Make me feel naughty, Adam. Can do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/make-me-feel-naughty-adam-can-do/) [Olivia Cunning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-cunning/) > [“I want you, Devlin. Maybe just for a night. Maybe for something more. I don’t know if this attraction between us will go anywhere.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/i-want-you-devlin-maybe-just-for-a-night-maybe-for-something-more-i/) [Olivia Cunning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-cunning/) > [“Did you piss your pants, Eric?” “Sed did it.” “Sed pissed your pants?” Trey shook his head slightly. “Man, that takes pissed off to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/did-you-piss-your-pants-eric-sed-did-it-sed-pissed-your-pants-trey/) [Olivia Cunning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-cunning/) > [“Would you like to sit?" Kellen asked her. "You'd better do it soon," Owen whispered close to her ear, "or I'm going to bend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/would-you-like-to-sit-kellen-asked-her-you-d-better-do-it-soon-owen/) [Olivia Cunning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-cunning/) > [“I'm going to let myself love you now. Don't freak out on me." He laughed. "No promises.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/i-m-going-to-let-myself-love-you-now-don-t-freak-out-on-me-he-laughed/) [Olivia Cunning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-cunning/) > [“Help me find you Jess." ~Sed”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/help-me-find-you-jess-sed/) [Olivia Cunning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-cunning/) > [“Guys like you don't usually talk to girls like me. Girls like me don't get invited to prom. Guys don't make fools of themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/guys-like-you-don-t-usually-talk-to-girls-like-me-girls-like-me-don-t/) [Olivia Cunning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-cunning/) > [“This beautiful, wonderful, sexy-as-sin woman is mine. You may look—and seethe with envy—but never touch.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/this-beautiful-wonderful-sexy-as-sin-woman-is-mine-you-may-look-and/) [Olivia Cunning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-cunning/) > [“God, you made me come hard. No need to call me God, he teased.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/god-you-made-me-come-hard-no-need-to-call-me-god-he-teased/) [Olivia Cunning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-cunning/) > [“I need a million dollars to pay the ransom on my kidnapped poodle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/i-need-a-million-dollars-to-pay-the-ransom-on-my-kidnapped-poodle/) [Olivia Cunning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-cunning/) > [“I like you, period." "I like you, exclamation point.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/i-like-you-period-i-like-you-exclamation-point/) [Olivia Cunning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-cunning/) > [“My vagina has just found a new best friend”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/my-vagina-has-just-found-a-new-best-friend/) [Olivia Cunning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-cunning/) > [“There’s so much love in your life, but you don’t recognise it. You won’t let it in. That’s why you feel so lonely, baby.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/there-s-so-much-love-in-your-life-but-you-don-t-recognise-it-you-won/) [Olivia Cunning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-cunning/) > [“Why do I always sound like the chick in this relationship?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/why-do-i-always-sound-like-the-chick-in-this-relationship/) [Olivia Cunning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-cunning/) [Explore all 169 Olivia Cunning quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-cunning/) ## More Mediocre quotes > [I want to be involved in things I can be really proud of. There's a lot of bad films being made and I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aisling-loftus/i-want-to-be-involved-in-things-i-can-be-really-proud-of-there-s-a/) [Aisling Loftus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aisling-loftus/) > [Finding patterns is easy in any kind of data-rich environment; that's what mediocre gamblers do. The key is in determining whether the patterns represent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-silver/finding-patterns-is-easy-in-any-kind-of-data-rich-environment-that-s/) [Nate Silver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-silver/) > [Preserve your energy - do not waste it on mediocre activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-wilde/preserve-your-energy-do-not-waste-it-on-mediocre-activity/) [Stuart Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-wilde/) > [We create a standard for how we want to do things and everybody's got to buy into that standard or you really can't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-saban/we-create-a-standard-for-how-we-want-to-do-things-and-everybody-s-got/) [Nick Saban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-saban/) > [To run with the majority during the race of life is to be mediocre all of the time and wrong most of the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/len-smith/to-run-with-the-majority-during-the-race-of-life-is-to-be-mediocre/) [Len Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/len-smith/) > [To the distracting occupations belong especially my lecture courses which I am holding this winter for the first time, and which now cost much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/to-the-distracting-occupations-belong-especially-my-lecture-courses/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [I was haunted always by my other life-my drab room in the Bronx, my square foot of the subway, my fixation upon the day's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-was-haunted-always-by-my-other-life-my-drab-room-in-the-bronx-my/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [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/) > [Mediocre men often have the most acquired knowledge. It is in the darker. It is in the darker regions of science that great men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/mediocre-men-often-have-the-most-acquired-knowledge-it-is-in-the/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [“The next time you see a sixteen-color, blind-embossed, gold-stamped, die-cut, elaborately folded and bound job, printed on handmade paper, see if it isn't a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-glaser/the-next-time-you-see-a-sixteen-color-blind-embossed-gold-stamped-die/) [Milton Glaser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-glaser/) > [Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophia-loren/getting-ahead-in-a-difficult-profession-requires-avid-faith-in/) [Sophia Loren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophia-loren/) > [What's important is how we use our time on this earth, not how conspicuously we give our money away. What's important is the energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-pallotta/what-s-important-is-how-we-use-our-time-on-this-earth-not-how/) [Dan Pallotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-pallotta/) > [I've become absolutely convinced that the seminal difference between successful companies and mediocre or unsuccessful ones has little, if anything, to do with what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-lencioni/i-ve-become-absolutely-convinced-that-the-seminal-difference-between/) [Patrick Lencioni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-lencioni/) > [I'm very ambitious, musically - I want to create great things, not mediocre work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-vincent-mcmorrow/i-m-very-ambitious-musically-i-want-to-create-great-things-not/) [James Vincent McMorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-vincent-mcmorrow/) > [I've seen people recover physical abilities, yet never get over emotional trauma after a serious accident. I've seen other people overcome the psychological and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-stovall/i-ve-seen-people-recover-physical-abilities-yet-never-get-over/) [Jim Stovall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-stovall/) Browse all 656 Mediocre quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Ninety percent of my work is crap,” he continued. “Another nine percent is mediocre, and then there are those rare gems that are actually useable.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Olivia Cunning" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/ninety-percent-of-my-work-is-crap-he-continued-another-nine-percent/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Mediocre" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/ninety-percent-of-my-work-is-crap-he-continued-another-nine-percent/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/olivia-cunning-2251_mediocre_ninety-percent-of-my-work-is-crap-he-con_2612046.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/olivia-cunning-2251_mediocre_ninety-percent-of-my-work-is-crap-he-con_2612046.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/olivia-cunning-2251_mediocre_ninety-percent-of-my-work-is-crap-he-con_2612046.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Ninety percent of my work is crap,” he continued. “Another nine percent is mediocre, and then there are…” — Olivia Cunning", "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": "Olivia Cunning", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-cunning/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Ninety percent of my work is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/ninety-percent-of-my-work-is-crap-he-continued-another-nine-percent/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-cunning/ninety-percent-of-my-work-is-crap-he-continued-another-nine-percent/#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 } } ] } ```