“One mark of a second-rate mind is to be always telling stories.”

Aphorism 52
Les Caractères (1688), Des jugements

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "One mark of a second-rate mind is to be always telling stories." by Jean de La Bruyère?
Jean de La Bruyère photo
Jean de La Bruyère 65
17th-century French writer and philosopher 1645–1696

Related quotes

Judy Garland photo

“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”

Judy Garland (1922–1969) actress, singer and vaudevillian from the United States

As quoted in Business Etiquette for the Nineties : Your Ticket to Career Success (1992) by Lou Kennedy, p. 8
Variant: Always be a first rate version of yourself and not a second rate version of someone else.

“That is the best story he could find in his life, never mind if it's the truest: an artist's duty is always to tell the best story.”

Wilfrid Sheed (1930–2011) English-American novelist and essayist

"V. S. Pritchett: Midnight Oil," p. 227
The Good Word & Other Words (1978)

A.A. Milne photo

“I wrote somewhere once that the third-rate mind was only happy when it was thinking with the majority, the second-rate mind was only happy when it was thinking with the minority, and the first-rate mind was only happy when it was thinking.”

A.A. Milne (1882–1956) British author

War with Honour http://books.google.com/books?id=QmQDAAAAMAAJ&q="I+wrote+somewhere+once+that+the+third+rate+mind+was+only+happy+when+it+was+thinking+with+the+majority+the+second+rate+mind+was+only+happy+when+it+was+with+the+minority+and+a+first+rate+mind+was+only+happy+when+it+was+thinking", Macmillan War Pamphlets, Issue 2 (1940).

Tzi Ma photo

“We have to continue to tell our stories. And if we change one mind, it’s one mind that we changed and I’m happy with that.”

Tzi Ma (1962) Hong Kong American actor

As quoted in "‘Tigertail’s Tzi Ma Transcends Role As Hollywood’s Go-To Asian Father To Become Trailblazing Icon" in Deadline (8 April 2020) https://deadline.com/2020/04/tzi-ma-tigertail-asian-american-hollywood-diversity-inclusion-representation-1202900973/

André Weil photo

“First rate mathematicians choose first rate people, but second rate mathematicians choose third rate people.”

André Weil (1906–1998) French mathematician

As quoted in Comic Sections (Dublin 1993) by D MacHale

Robert Graves photo

“There is one story and one story only
That will prove worth your telling”

Robert Graves (1895–1985) English poet and novelist

"To Juan at the Winter Solstice" from Poems 1938-1945 (1946).
Poems
Context: There is one story and one story only
That will prove worth your telling,
Whether as learned bard or gifted child;
To it all lines or lesser guards belong
That startle with their shining
Such common stories as they stray into.

Jeanette Winterson photo
Margaret Atwood photo
Byron Katie photo

“Reality is always kinder than the story we tell about it.”

Byron Katie (1942) American spiritual writer

Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life (2002)

Related topics