Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, known for his works of science fiction …
“Mediocre minds usually dismiss anything which reaches beyond their own understanding.”
Les esprits médiocres condamnent d'ordinaire tout ce qui passe leur portée.
Maxim 375.
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665–1678)
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François de La Rochefoucauld156
French author of maxims and memoirs 1613–1680Related quotes
“To understand anything is to find in it something which is our own.”
Chinmayananda Saraswati (1916–1993) Indian spiritual teacher
Quotations from Gurudev’s teachings, Chinmya Mission Chicago
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
Letter to Morris Raphael Cohen, professor emeritus of philosophy at the College of the City of New York, defending the appointment of Bertrand Russell to a teaching position (19 March 1940).
1940s
Variant: Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence and fulfills the duty to express the results of his thoughts in clear form.
Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union
Voltaire (1916)
Patricia Churchland (1943) philosopher
Introductory message at her homepage at the University of California, San Diego http://philosophyfaculty.ucsd.edu/faculty/pschurchland/presentation.html, 2013
Anthony de Mello (1931–1987) Indian writer
"The Illusion of Rewards", p. 43
Awareness (1992)
Context: Do you know what eternal life is? You think it's everlasting life. But your own theologians will tell you that that is crazy, because everlasting is still within time. It is time perduring forever. Eternal means timeless — no time. The human mind cannot understand that. The human mind can understand time and can deny time. What is timeless is beyond our comprehension. Yet the mystics tell us that eternity is right now. How's that for good news? It is right now. People are so distressed when I tell them to forget their past. They're crazy! Just drop it! When you hear "Repent for your past," realize it's a great religious distraction from waking up. Wake up! That's what repent means. Not "weep for your sins.": Wake up! understand, stop all the crying. Understand! Wake up!