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.
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”
Variant: Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds.
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Albert Einstein 702
German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativi… 1879–1955Related quotes
“Each progressive spirit is opposed by a thousand mediocre minds appointed to guard the past.”
As quoted in Optimum Sports Nutrition (1993) by Michael Colgan, p. 144
“Having encountered many setbacks, Havel lived with a spirit of hope”
Statement of President Obama on the death of Vaclav Havel (18 December 2011) http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/12/18/statement-president-obama-death-vaclav-havel
2011
Context: Having encountered many setbacks, Havel lived with a spirit of hope, which he defined as “the ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed.” His peaceful resistance shook the foundations of an empire, exposed the emptiness of a repressive ideology, and proved that moral leadership is more powerful than any weapon. He played a seminal role in the Velvet Revolution that won his people their freedom and inspired generations to reach for self-determination and dignity in all parts of the world.
Source: The Age of Uncertainty (1977), Chapter 1, p. 13
Letter to A.W.M. Baillie (10 September 1864)
Letters, etc
“The quickest way to kill the human spirit is to ask someone to do mediocre work.”
"...like captured fireflies" (1955); also published in America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction (2003), p. 142
“Great minds are always feared by lesser minds.”
Source: The Lost Symbol
2010s, Hard Truths: Law Enforcement (2015)