“No one rises to low expectations”

“No one would have expected [the escalation of nuclear hostilities], but then again, no one would have expected the dead to rise, now would they? Only one could have foreseen this, and I don’t believe in him anymore.”

“How is it possible that the poorer classes can remain healthy and have a reasonable expectation of life under such conditions? What can one expect but that they should suffer from continual outbreaks of epidemics and an excessively low expectation of life? The physical condition of the workers shows a progressive deterioration.”

“It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him.”

“You're never too old to play. You're only too old for low-rise jeans.”

“I think they’ll probably put that on my gravestone. ‘He Was Heterosexual and Had Low Expectations.”

“The first discipline modernity’s originators imposed upon themselves was that of self-restraint, learning to live with vulgarity. Their high expectations for effectiveness were made possible by low expectations of what was to be.”

“Stay low, stay quiet, keep it simple, don't expect too much, enjoy what you have.”

“As people acquire more education, their expectations rise as to the amount of responsibility, authority, and income they receive.”

“Oft, on a plat of rising ground,
I hear the far-off curfew sound
Over some wide-watered shore,
Swinging low with sullen roar.”