Mediocrity Quotes

• Jealousy is the tribute which mediocrity pays to genius.

  Fulton J. Sheen

  Jealousy, Envy, Catholic

  "Walk with God".

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

  Arthur Conan Doyle

  Success, Education, Knowledge

  The Valley of Fear ch. 1 (1915)

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• The price of excellence is discipline. The cost of mediocrity is disappointment.

  William Arthur Ward

  Leadership, Basketball, Motivation

  William Arthur Ward (1968). “Thoughts of a Christian Optimist: The Words of William Arthur Ward”

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• It takes more energy to maintain mediocrity than it takes to pursue excellence.

  Matthew Kelly

  Excellence, Energy, Pursue

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• It's simple ... go the extra mile and you will stand out from the crowd

  Robin Crow

  Motivational, Simple, Excellence

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• To the mediocre, mediocrity is a form of happiness.

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  Form, Mediocre

  Friedrich Nietzsche “Delphi Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche (Illustrated): Friedrich Nietzsche”, Delphi Classics

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• Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.

  Albert Einstein

  Inspirational, Motivational, Positive

  Albert Einstein (2015). “Bite-Size Einstein: Quotations on Just About Everything from the Greatest Mind of the Twentieth Century”, p.31, St. Martin's Press

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• The key to pursuing excellence is to embrace an organic, long-term learning process, and not to live in a shell of static, safe mediocrity. Usually, growth comes at the expense of previous comfort or safety.

  Joshua Waitzkin

  Keys, Long, Safety

  "The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance". Book by Joshua Waitzkin, www.businessinsider.com. May 8, 2007.

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• Only the mediocre are always at their best.

  Jean Giraudoux

  Inspirational, Motivational, Favourite

  Jean Giraudoux (2002). “Choice of the Elect”

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• When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.

  Napoleon Bonaparte

  Live Life, Men, Levels

  Napoleon Bonaparte “Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut”, Рипол Классик

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• Mediocrity is excellent to the eyes of mediocre people.

  Joseph Joubert

  Eye, People, Excellent

  Joseph Joubert (1896). “Pensées of Joubert”

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• Don't settle for mediocrity; never let good enough be good enough.

  Joel Osteen

  Letting Go, Good Enough, Settling

  Joel Osteen (2012). “Daily Readings from Become a Better You: 90 Devotions for Improving Your Life Every Day”, p.31, Simon and Schuster

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• Trying to be cool is the easiest path to mediocrity

  Terry Crews

  Trying, Path, Being Cool

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• "Mediocrity" doesn't mean average intelligence, it means an average intelligence that resents and envies its betters.

  Ayn Rand

  Mean, Average, Gossip

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• Great innovators and original thinkers and artists attract the wrath of mediocrities as lightning rods draw the flashes.

  Theodor Reik

  Creativity, Artist, Wrath

  Theodor Reik (1963). “The Need to be Loved”

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• 

  Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.

  Eleanor Roosevelt

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

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• Be great at what you do, and don't ever settle for mediocrity or else you will always wonder how great you could have been.

  Debbi Fields

  Wonder, Settling, Could Have Been

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• There are two extremes to be avoided: one is the attitude of contempt toward education, the other is the tragic snobbery of assuming that marching through an educational system is a sure cure for ignorance and mediocrity.

  Henry Ford

  Inspiring, Education, Attitude

  Henry Ford (2015). “My Life and Work: Top Biography”, p.166, 谷月社

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

  Ambrose Bierce

  Success, Perseverance, Congratulations

  Ambrose Bierce (2009). “The Devil's Dictionary: Easyread Super Large 18pt Edition”, p.263, ReadHowYouWant.com

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• Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you.

  Jim Rohn

  Life, Motivational, Positive

  FaceBook post by Jim Rohn from Jan 30, 2016

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

  Andrew Carnegie

  Motivational, Success, Perseverance

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• There are certain things in which mediocrity is intolerable: poetry, music, painting, public eloquence. What torture it is to hear a frigid speech being pompously declaimed, or second-rate verse spoken with all a bad poet's bombast!

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Speech, Painting, Poet

  "Of Books". "Characters", Book by Jean De La Bruyère, www.ourcivilisation.com. 1688.

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• Mediocrity is the most effective mask a superior spirit can wear, because to the great majority, which is to say, to the mediocre,it will not suggest a disguise:--and yet it is precisely for their sake that he puts it on--so as not to arouse them, and, indeed, not infrequently to avoid this out of pity and benevolence.

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  Majority, Sake, Spirit

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• As a rule, the man who can do all things equally well is a very mediocre individual.

  Elbert Hubbard

  Men, Individual, He Man

  Elbert Hubbard (1922). “Selected Writings of Elbert Hubbard ...”

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• Mediocrity is now, as formerly, dangerous, commonly fatal, to the poet; but among even the successful writers of prose, those who rise sensibly above it are the very rarest exceptions.

  William E. Gladstone

  Successful, Poet, Dangerous

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