“First-rate science fiction was, and remains, more interesting than second-rate art.”
Clive James (1939–2019) Australian author, critic, broadcaster, poet, translator and memoirist
Ibid.
Essays and reviews, From the Land of Shadows (1982)
“The voice of a second-rate person is more impressive than the published opinion of superior ability.”
2007 edition, p. 31.
Empire and Communications (1950)
Context: Graham Wallas has reminded us that writing as compared with speaking involves an impression at the second remove and reading an impression at the third remove. The voice of a second-rate person is more impressive than the published opinion of superior ability.
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Do you have more details about the quote "The voice of a second-rate person is more impressive than the published opinion of superior ability." by Harold Innis?
Harold Innis22
Canadian professor of political economy 1894–1952Related quotes
“I'd rather be a first-rate version of myself than a second-rate version of anybody.”
Liza Minnelli (1946) American actress and singer
Liza Minelli, interviewed by Gene Shalit in the September 1977 issue of The Ladies Home Journal, as quoted in "Women in the News," https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yXMjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=a2cEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5851%2C3647577 in The Sarasota Herald-Tribune (August 24, 1977), p. 6-D <br class="br">Variant: But I'd rather be a first-rate version of myself than a second-rate version of somebody else. <br class="br">Context: I don't sing them because I couldn't sing them as well as she did. I'd rather be a first-rate version of myself than a second-rate version of anybody.
“The matter of heart is more personal than accepting the opinions of others.”
Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author
“I would rather present a first-rate version of myself than a second-rate version of Mama.”
Liza Minnelli (1946) American actress and singer
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 <br class="br">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.
Adair Turner, Baron Turner of Ecchinswell (1955) British businessman
Source: Economics after the crisis : objectives and means (2012), Ch. 1 : Economic Growth, Human Welfare, and Inequality
Liza Minnelli (1946) American actress and singer
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 <br class="br">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."
Alain de Botton (1969) Swiss writer
Source: The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (2009), p. 284.
Context: It appeared that the one area in which Sir Bob excelled was anxiety. He was marked out by his relentless ability to find fault with others’ mediocrity—suggesting that a certain kind of intelligence may at heart be nothing more or less than a superior capacity for dissatisfaction.
