Mediocre Quotes - Page 7

• Mediocre theoretical physicists make no progress. They spend all their time understanding other people's progress.

  Jeff Bezos

  People, Understanding, Progress

  "Brought to book" by Andrew Smith, www.theguardian.com. February 10, 2001.

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• Mediocre men work at their best; men seeking excellence strive to do better.

  Edwin Louis Cole

  Men, Perfection, Excellence

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• We don't become mediocre all at once, and we rarely do it on purpose.

  Seth Godin

  Entrepreneur, Purpose

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• Better to know a few things which are good and necessary than many things which are useless and mediocre

  Leo Tolstoy

  Useless, Knows

  Leo Tolstoy (2010). “A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul, Written and Se”, p.13, Simon and Schuster

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• I don't like being mediocre. I won't be.

  Mike Milbury

  Hockey, Being Me

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• . . . a jostling scrum of office buildings so mediocre that the only way you ever remember them is by the frustration they induce - like a basketball team standing shoulder to shoulder between you and the Mona Lisa.

  Prince Charles

  Basketball, Team, Frustration

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• A baseball field must be the most beautiful thing in the world. It's so honest and precise. And we play on it. Every star gets humbled. Every mediocre player has a great moment.

  Jim Lefebvre

  Beautiful, Sports, Baseball

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• If you buy all the stocks selling at or below two times earnings, you will lose money on half of them because instead of making profits they will actually lose money, but you will only lose a dollar or so a share at most. Then others will be mediocre performers. But the remaining big winners will go up and produce fabulous results and also ensure a good overall result.

  John Templeton

  Optimistic, Two, Dollars

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• At bottom, I mean profoundly at bottom, the FBI has nothing to do with Communism, it has nothing to do with catching criminals, it has nothing to do with the Mafia, the syndicate, it has nothing to do with trust-busting, it has nothing to do with interstate commerce, it has nothing to do with anything but serving as a church for the mediocre. A high church for the true mediocre.

  Norman Mailer

  Mean, Mafia, Church

  "The Presidential Papers (The Sixth Presidential Paper - A Kennedy Miscellany: An Impolite Interview)". Book by Norman Mailer, 1963.

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• Mediocre writers borrow; great writers steal.

  T. S. Eliot

  Crafts, Stealing, Great Writers

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• Highly developed spirits often encounter resistance from mediocre minds.

  Albert Einstein

  Political, Mind, Encounters

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• I've known people who have not mastered their tools who are good programmers, but not a tool master who remained a mediocre programmer.

  Kent Beck

  People, Tools, Masters

  Twitter post from Nov 08, 2013

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• It is the habit of mediocre minds to condemn all that is beyond their grasp.

  Francois de La Rochefoucauld

  Wise, Mind, Habit

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• I have said this many times, that there seems to be enough room in the world for mediocre men, but not for mediocre women, and we really have to work very, very hard.

  Madeleine Albright

  Men, Rooms, World

  Interview with Marianne Schnall, www.huffingtonpost.com. June 15, 2010.

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• Nowadays it is the fashion to pretend that no single individual is ever responsible for a successful advertising campaign. This emphasis on "teamwork" is bunkum - a conspiracy of the mediocre majority.

  David Ogilvy

  Teamwork, Fashion, Successful

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• Only mediocre people are at the best all the time.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Swimming, People

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• For me, a really radical position for journalism to take is to stop being cynical. Cynicism is what passes for insight among the mediocre.

  Joe Klein

  Cynical, Journalism, Cynicism

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• To remain silent is the most useful service that a mediocre speaker can render to the public good.

  Alexis de Tocqueville

  Silent, Public Good, Speakers

  Alexis de Tocqueville, Arthur Goldhammer (2004). “Democracy in America”, p.576, Library of America

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• You don't have enough time to be both unhappy & mediocre. It's not just pointless; it's painful.

  Seth Godin

  Unhappy, Enough Time, Tribes

  Seth Godin (2008). “Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us”, p.101, Penguin

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• I don't want to be mediocre, this is the fear of my soul and my body.

  Mircea Eliade

  Soul, Body, Want

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• Successful careers are not planned. They develop when people are prepared for opportunities because they know their strengths, their method of work, and their values. Knowing where one belongs can transform an ordinary person - hardworking and competent but otherwise mediocre - into an outstanding performer.

  Peter Drucker

  Successful, Opportunity, Careers

  Peter Drucker, Alan Kantrow, Rick Wartzman, Julia Kirby (2016). “Get the Right Things Done: The Drucker Collection (6 Items)”, p.16, Harvard Business Review Press

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• Organizations grow when they persuade a tiny cadre to be passionate, not when they touch millions with a mediocre message

  Seth Godin

  Organization, Passionate, Tiny

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• '-mediocre, arrogant as his father, a determined rule-breaker, delighted to find himself famous, attention-seeking and impertinent -' said Severus. 'You see what you expect to see, Severus.' said Dumbledore.

  J. K. Rowling

  Father, Life Lesson, Attention

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• Why should I hold back now and sound mediocre, just so I can sound mediocre twenty years from now?

  Janis Joplin

  Years, Twenties, Sound

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• Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes.

  Tom Peters

  Rewards, Excellent

  Tom Peters (2010). “The Circle of Innovation: You Can't Shrink Your Way to Greatness”, p.8, Vintage

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