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Albert Camus209
French author and journalist 1913–1960Related quotes
“Only the mediocre are always at their best.”
Jean Giraudoux (1882–1944) French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright
As quoted in The Beauty Principal (1984) by Victoria Principal, p. 117
Attributed
“To me, the only sin is mediocrity.”
Martha Graham (1894–1991) American dancer and choreographer
New York Times interview (1985)
“Idleness is only the refuge of weak minds.”
Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) British statesman and man of letters
20 July 1749
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
“It is cruel to discover one's mediocrity only when it is too late.”
W. Somerset Maugham book Of Human Bondage
Source: Of Human Bondage (1915), Ch. 51
“Ignore the critics… Only mediocrity is safe from ridicule. Dare to be different!”
Dita Von Teese (1972) American burlesque dancer, model and actress
“Only with absolute fearlessness can we slay the dragons of mediocrity that invade our gardens.”
George Lois (1931) American art director, designer and author
Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues (1715–1747) French writer, a moralist
La modération des grands hommes ne borne que leurs vices. La modération des faibles est médiocrité.
Source: Reflections and Maxims (1746), p. 168.
“Progress in civilization seems possible only in interludes when history is idling.”
John Gray (1948) British philosopher
An Old Chaos: The Emperor's Tomb (p. 35)
The Silence of Animals: On Progress and Other Modern Myths (2013)
Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French
Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)