Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table (1858), ch. XII : Nothing is so common-place as to wish to be remarkable.
Misattributed
Source: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Criminal_Minds_(season_1) Criminal Minds] ("L.D.S.K." - season 1, episode 6).
“Nothing is so common-place as to wish to be remarkable.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894) Poet, essayist, physician
The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table (1858)
Context: Nothing is so common-place as to wish to be remarkable. Fame usually comes to those who are thinking about something else, - very rarely to those who say to themselves, "Go to, now, let us be a celebrated individual!"
“There is nothing more uncommon than common sense.”
Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) American architect (1867-1959)
Anonymous saying, dating back at least to its citation in Natural Theology (1836) by Thomas Chalmers, Bk. II, Ch. III : On the Strength of the Evidences for a God in the Phenomena of Visible and External Nature, § 15, where the author states: "It has been said that there is nothing more uncommon than common sense."; it has since become misattributed to particular people, including Frank Lloyd Wright.
Misattributed
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and Prime Minister
“It has been said that there is nothing more uncommon than common sense.”
Thomas Chalmers (1780–1847) Scottish mathematician and a leader of the Free Church of Scotland
Natural Theology (1836), Bk. II, Ch. III : On the Strength of the Evidences for a God in the Phenomena of Visible and External Nature, § 15; though provided without attribution of author, the saying "There is nothing more uncommon than common sense" has since become misattributed to particular people, including Frank Lloyd Wright.
“Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense.”
Voltaire (1694–1778) French writer, historian, and philosopher
Rien n'est plus contraire à la religion et au clergé qu'une tête sensée et raisonnable. — Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach, Théologie portative, ou Dictionnaire abrégé de la religion chrétienne (1768): Folie
Misattributed
“The common people are nothing more than the raw material of which a People is made.”
Henrik Ibsen An Enemy of the People
Dr. Stockmann, Act IV
An Enemy of the People (1882)
“I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense.”
Thomas Paine (1737–1809) English and American political activist
1770s, Common Sense (1776)
“Nothing is more common than good things: the point in question is only to discriminate them”
Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and Christian philosopher
The Art of Persuasion
Context: Nothing is more common than good things: the point in question is only to discriminate them; and it is certain that they are all natural and within our reach and even known to all mankind.
“Nothing prints more lively in our minds than something we wish to forget.”
Michel De Montaigne (1533–1592) (1533-1592) French-Occitan author, humanistic philosopher, statesman
Book II, Ch. 12
Attributed
