“To be popular one must be a mediocrity.”

—  Oscar Wilde

Last update Sept. 27, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "To be popular one must be a mediocrity." by Oscar Wilde?
Oscar Wilde photo
Oscar Wilde 812
Irish writer and poet 1854–1900
Oscar Wilde quote: “To be popular one must be a mediocrity.”

Related quotes

Oscar Wilde photo
David Levithan photo
Martin Luther King, Jr. photo

“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right….”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

"Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution" (31 March 1968)
1960s
Variant: There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.
Source: A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches
Context: On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, "Is it safe?" Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?" And Vanity comes along and asks the question, "Is it popular?" But Conscience asks the question "Is it right?" And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.
Context: On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, "Is it safe?" Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?" And Vanity comes along and asks the question, "Is it popular?" But Conscience asks the question "Is it right?" And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right. I believe today that there is a need for all people of good will to come together with a massive act of conscience and say in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "We ain't goin' study war no more." This is the challenge facing modern man.

Oscar Wilde photo
Kyūichi Tokuda photo
Mahatma Gandhi photo
James Madison photo

“A popular Government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy, or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”

James Madison (1751–1836) 4th president of the United States (1809 to 1817)

Letter to W.T. Barry http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch18s35.html (4 August 1822), in The Writings of James Madison (1910) edited by Gaillard Hunt, Vol. 9, p. 103; these words, using the older spelling "Governours", are inscribed to the left of the main entrance, Library of Congress James Madison Memorial Building.
1820s

Felix Frankfurter photo

“In a democratic society like ours, relief must come through an aroused popular conscience that sears the conscience of the people's representatives.”

Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) American judge

Dissenting, Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186 (1962).
Judicial opinions

Nancy Peters photo

“We have one called Commodity Aesthetics, which is our section on popular culture.”

Nancy Peters (1936) American writer and publisher

"Beat Establishment: City Lights Bookstore May Be Named San Francisco Landmark", http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0006/25/sun.03.html CNN, 2000-06-25. : On book categories in City Lights bookshop.
2000s

Related topics