“Women want mediocre men, and men are working hard to be as mediocre as possible.”

“Tragic paradox of freedom: the mediocre men who alone make its exercise possible cannot guarantee its duration.”

“Young men in meetings put in common nothing but their mediocrity.”

“The moderation of great men only sets a limit to their vices. The moderation of weak men is mediocrity.”

“Mediocrity in poets has never been tolerated by either men, or gods, or booksellers.”
Mediocribus esse poetis Non homines, non di, non concessere columnae.

“A good number of works owe their success to the mediocrity of their authors' ideas, which match the mediocrity of those of the general public.”

“[I]t is necessary to insist upon this extraordinary but undeniable fact: experimental science has progressed thanks in great part to the work of men astoundingly mediocre, and even less than mediocre. That is to say, modern science, the root and symbol of our actual civilization, finds a place for the intellectually commonplace man and allows him to work therein with success.”

“Any system which allows men to choose their own future will end by choosing safety and mediocrity, and in such a Reality the stars are out of reach.”

“Everyone wants a prodigy to fail; it makes our mediocrity more bearable.”

“The quickest way to kill the human spirit is to ask someone to do mediocre work.”