Nicolas Chamfort - Mediocrity Quotes

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Most social institutions seem to be designed to keep man in a state of intellectual and emotional mediocrity that makes him more fit to govern or be governed.

Nicolas Chamfort

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.

Nicolas Chamfort

There is a kind of harmful modesty which … sometimes affects men of superior character to their detriment by keeping them in a state of mediocrity. I am reminded of the remark that a certain gentleman of acknowledged eminence once made at luncheon to some persons of the Court, "How bitterly I regret the time I wasted merely to learn how superior I am to all of you!"

Nicolas Chamfort

What is responsible for the success of many works is the rapport between the mediocrity of the author's ideas and the mediocrity of the public's.

Nicolas Chamfort