Mediocre Quotes - Page 9

We must see that we are afraid of the thing we most desire,
and so we live a mediocre life,
never bringing to consummation
the primary impulse of our heart.

David Deida

Heart, Desire, Mediocre Life

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But to paraphrase Henry Drummond in Inherit the Wind, ignorance and mediocrity are forever busy, and the forces of mediocrity aren't content with being mediocre; they'll do everything in their power to prevent even the humblest of teachers and children from accomplishing anything extraordinary. For good work shines a light on the failures of the mediocre, and that is a light which terrifies those who conspire to keep our nation's children, like themselves, ordinary.

Rafe Esquith

Teacher, Children, Ignorance

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Thank God that He has permitted us to live among the present problems. It is no longer permitted to anyone to be mediocre.

Dorothy Day

Thank God, Problem

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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 letter from Alabama-would it come and what would it say?-my shabby suits, my poverty, and love. While my friends were launching decently into life I had muscled my inadequate bark into midstream... I was a failure-mediocre at advertising work and unable to get started as a writer. Hating the city, I got roaring, weeping drunk on my last penny and went home.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Hate, Home, Cities

F. Scott Fitzgerald, James L. W. West (2005). “Fitzgerald: My Lost City: Personal Essays, 1920-1940”, p.108, Cambridge University Press

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In the dark room a cloud of yellow dust flew from beneath the tool like a scatter of sparks from under the hooves of a galloping horse. The twin wheels turned and hummed. Binet was smiling, his chin down, his nostrils distended. He seemed lost in the kind of happiness which, as a rule, accompanies only those mediocre occupations that tickle the intelligence with easy difficulties, and satisfy it with a sense of achievement beyond which there is nothing left for dreams to feed on.

Gustave Flaubert

Dream, Horse, Dark

Gustave Flaubert (1999). “Madame Bovary: Life in a Country Town”, Oxford University Press, USA

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Too often, executive compensation in the U.S. is ridiculously out of line with performance. That won't change, moreover, because the deck is stacked against investors when it comes to the CEO's pay. The upshot is that a mediocre-or-worse CEO - aided by his handpicked VP of human relations and a consultant from the ever-accommodating firm of Ratchet, Ratchet and Bingo - all too often receives gobs of money from an ill-designed compensation arrangement.

Warren Buffett

Business, Bingo, Gob

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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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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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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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Preserve your energy - do not waste it on mediocre activity.

Stuart Wilde

Energy, Waste, Activity

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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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He's only mediocre, jealousy can't get with me.

LL Cool J

Song: Jealous

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Be special. Be anything but mediocre.

Anita Roddick

Special

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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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I'm not a big fan of mediocre.

Marcia Gay Harden

Fans, Bigs

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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 they know or how smart they are; it has everything to do with how healthy they are.

Patrick Lencioni

Smart, Successful, Differences

"The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business". Book by Patrick Lencioni, 2012.

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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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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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