Above Average Quotes

• The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting above average effort.

  Colin Powell

  Success, Military, Winning

  Colin L. Powell (1995). “My American Journey”, Random House Incorporated

  69 Copy quote

  Show source

• Welcome to Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.

  Garrison Keillor

  Strong Women, Children, Parenting

  A Prairie Home Companion (radio series) (1974 - 1987)

  90 Copy quote

  Show source

• The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion or ethnic background, is that we all believe we are above-average drivers.

  Dave Barry

  Inspirational, Birthday, Believe

  44 Copy quote

• The average estimate themselves by what they do, the above average by what they are.

  Friedrich Schiller

  Inspirational, Success, Self Esteem

  23 Copy quote

• Basically, if you have above-average intelligence, you have common sense and you can speak in front of a camera and to a crowd, you can govern the state.

  Jerry Brown

  Average, Common Sense, Cameras

  "Late Edition" with Wolf Blitzer, www.cnn.com. August 10, 2003.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Every American should have above average income, and my Administration is going to see they get it.

  William J. Clinton

  Average, Should Have, Political

  9 Copy quote

• Wal-Mart hires average people but squeezes above average performance and results out of them.

  Michael Bergdahl

  Average, People, Results

  Michael Bergdahl (2004). “What I Learned From Sam Walton: How to Compete and Thrive in a Wal-Mart World”, p.131, John Wiley & Sons

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• There is no such thing as an average runner. We are all above average.

  Hal Higdon

  Inspirational, Sports, Running

  47 Copy quote

• If a man's got talent and guts to buck society, he's obviously above average. You want to hold on to him. You straighten him out and turn him into a plus value. Why throw him away? Do that enough and all you've got left are the sheep.

  Alfred Bester

  Men, Sheep, Average

  Alfred Bester (1996). “The Demolished Man”, Vintage

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• While the other guy's sleeping?
  I'm working.
  While the other guy's eatin'?
  I'm working.

  Will Smith

  Sleep, Guy, Other Guys

  26 Copy quote

• The real beauty of democracy is that the average man believes he is above average.

  Morrie Brickman

  Real, Believe, Men

  4 Copy quote

• I'm not sure I'm the only savant with high IQ or with an above average IQ. Again, it may just be that we don't know very many of the others.

  Daniel Tammet

  Average, May, Not Sure

  4 Copy quote

• In a high school, the norms act to hold down the achievements of those who are above average, so that the school's demands will be at a level easily maintained by the majority.

  James S. Coleman

  School, Average, Achievement

  7 Copy quote

• I'm pretty happy. I obviously have complaints about things, but for the most part, I'm on the above-average side of happy people.

  David Cross

  Average, People, Sides

  Interview with Josh Modell, www.avclub.com. September 02, 2009.

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• Addicts, as a group, generally score far above average o intelligence tests. Why? You tell me. I guess maybe we're smart enough to have figured out how shitty things are and we decide addiction is the only way to deal with it.

  James Frey

  Smart, Average, Addiction

  James Frey (2004). “A Million Little Pieces”, p.208, Anchor

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• The average detective story is probably no worse than the average novel, but you never see the average novel. It doesn't get published. The average -- or only slightly above average -- detective story does.... Whereas the good novel is not at all the same kind of book as the bad novel. It is about entirely different things. But the good detective story and the bad detective story are about exactly the same things, and they are about them in very much the same way.

  Raymond Chandler

  Book, Average, Doe

  7 Copy quote

• You know, my boy, he said, it's impossible to love men such as they are. And yet we must. So try to do good to men by doing violence to your feelings, holding your nose, and shutting your eyes, especially shutting your eyes. Endure their villainy without anger, as much as possible; try to remember that you're a man too. For, if you're even a little above average intelligence, you'll have the propensity to judge people severely. Men are vile by nature and they'd rather love out of fear. Don't give in to such love: despise it always.

  Fyodor Dostoevsky

  Love, Eye, Boys

  18 Copy quote

• By definition, it is not possible to everyone to be above the average.

  James C. Collins

  Average, Definitions, Good To Great

  10 Copy quote

• I asked many friends if Australian anti-intellectualism was still a living force and they all told me it was. If you are above average intelligence, hide this embarrassing fact.

  George Mikes

  Funny, Humor, Average

  18 Copy quote

• Most of us form estimates of our intelligence, wisdom, and moral fiber that are considerably higher than an objective estimate would warrant; no doubt 90 percent of us think ourselves well above average along these lines.

  Alvin Plantinga

  Thinking, Moral Fiber, Average

  Alvin Plantinga (2000). “Warranted Christian Belief”, p.149, Oxford University Press

  19 Copy quote

  Show source

• Anecdotally his fitness reports rated him well above average in the classroom, excellent in the field, fluently bilingual in English and French, passable in Spanish, outstanding on all man-portable weaponry, and beyond outstanding at hand-to-hand combat. Susan knew what that last rating meant. Like having a running chainsaw thrown at you

  Lee Child

  Running, Men, Average

  Lee Child (2015). “The Essential Jack Reacher, Volume 2, 6-Book Bundle: 61 Hours, Worth Dying For, The Affair, A Wanted Man, Never Go Back, Personal”, p.175, Delacorte Press

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Strategy is, above all else, the search for above average returns.

  Gary Hamel

  Average, Return, Strategy

  7 Copy quote

• I don't know what the average income of Muslim-Americans is, but Muslim-American immigrants of recent vintage, I bet they have a very above-average representation in professional and business occupations.

  Thomas Friedman

  Average, Vintage, Income

  4 Copy quote

• In what may as well be starkly labelled smug satisfaction, an amazing 94% [of college instructors] rate themselves as above average teachers, and 68% rank themselves in the top quarter of teaching performances.

  K. Patricia Cross

  Teacher, Teaching, College

  10 Copy quote

• Are you an action-oriented, take-charge person interested in exciting new challenges? As director of a major public-sector organization, you will manage a large armed division and interface with other senior executives in a team-oriented, multinational initiative in the global marketplace. Successful candidate will have above-average oral-presentation skills

  Winston Churchill

  Senior, Team, Successful

  5 Copy quote