“I chucked the law for astronomy, and I knew that even if I were second-rate or third-rate, it was astronomy that mattered.”
as quoted by [N. Y. Mayall, Biographical memoir. Volume 41, Memoirs of the National Academy of sciences, National Academy of Sciences (U.S.), National Academy of Sciences, 1970, 179]
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Edwin Hubble 7
American astronomer 1889–1953Related quotes

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).

“If I were the king of the forest, and I’m not, we would have more astronomy.”
[NewsBank, Mark Bennett, Bill Nye still rocking science - TV personality making weekend appearance in town to help open Children's Museum, The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Indiana, September 24, 2010]

“I would rather present a first-rate version of myself than a second-rate version of Mama.”
Liza Minelli, as quoted in I Remember It Well (1975) by Vincente Minelli with Hector Arce, p. 395 https://books.google.com/books?id=D6jDtmiJCpkC&q=minelli+%22second-rate%22+%22first-rate+version%22&dq=minelli+%22second-rate%22+%22first-rate+version%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCoQ6AEwBGoVChMI0on3sqjdxgIVxHg-Ch1NhwVD; reprinted in "Judy and Liza, Part 3" https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CfpjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WuYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7188%2C5401411 by Vincente Minelli, in The Sydney Herald (August 15, 1975), p. 8
Context: I couldn't sing Mama's special songs. I couldn't do them as well. I would rather present a first-rate version of myself than a second-rate version of Mama.

2012-03-20
Santorum: "I don't care" about unemployment rate
Sam
Jacobs
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-rt-us-usa-campaign-santorum-joblessbre82j0nb-20120320,0,7898443.story
2012-03-20
http://web.archive.org/web/20120322201518/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-rt-us-usa-campaign-santorum-joblessbre82j0nb-20120320,0,7898443.story
2012-03-22

Liza Minelli, as quoted in "Liza Minelli 'Never Felt Better' Despite Tabloids' Whispers" https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rmRGAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6ugMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3577%2C2269544 by Douglas J. Rowe, in TV Plus: The Schenectady Sunday Gazette Supplement (June 9, 1996), p. 4
Context: It really scared me to do what Mom did because I never did anything that she did. I promised her that I would never sing her songs, and I kept my promise. "You sing them better than anybody. I don't want to be a second-rate example of you. I want to be a first-rate example of myself."

I Want to be a Mathematician: An Automathography (1985)

“I'm glad whenever they cut interest rates, I wish interest rates were zero.”
Republican presidential debate http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21221689/ (9 October 2007)
2000s, 2007