If you’re an entrepreneur, then you know that it’s important to keep your head in the clouds and your feet on the ground. It’s all too easy to get caught up in the day-to-day tasks of running a business, and before you know it, you’ve become bogged down in mediocrity. That’s why it’s important to stay inspired, and one of the best ways to do that is by reading quotes from successful entrepreneurs. Here are some of our favorite mediocrity quotes to help you stay motivated and inspired.

The best mediocrity quotes

1. The only sin is mediocrity. — Martha Graham

2. Get off the treadmill of consumption, replication, and mediocrity. Begin lifting the weights of creativity, originality, and success. — Ryan Lilly

3. No one will ever follow you down the street if you’re carrying a banner that says, ‘Onward toward mediocrity. — Martin De Maat

4. Most of our pocket wisdom is conceived for the use of mediocre people, to discourage them from ambitious attempts, and generally console them in their mediocrity. — Robert Louis Stevenson

5. Excellence in obscurity is better than mediocrity in the spotlight. — Matshona Dhliwayo

6. Whenever people talk glibly of a need to achieve educational ‘excellence, ‘ I think of what an improvement it would be if our public schools could just achieve mediocrity. — Thomas Sowell

7. The height of perfection is mediocrity. — Pitigrilli, Cocaine

8. Nobody intentionally sets out to fail or dwell in mediocrity. — T.C. Peterson, Dreams Are For Doers: Get Off The Pity Train And Get What You Want

9. Pursuing your dreams in spite of opposition is a revolution against mediocrity. By challenging yourself, you transform those around you. — M.J. Stoddard

10. Write or perish in the banality of mediocrity! — Thomas K. Matthews

11. The mark of mediocrity is to look for precedent. — Norman Mailer

12. Don’t give in to the forces of mediocrity that pull so many people into the ranks of disengagement and resignation. Be fearless Be bold. — Timi Nadela, Get To The Top

13. There is always a heavy demand for fresh mediocrity. In every generation the least cultivated taste has the largest appetite. — Paul Gauguin

14. Life is too short to chase perfection, yet too long to be satisfied with mediocrity. — Russell Eric Dobda

15. You have two options to choose from as an aspiring achiever — either you become excellent or you become excellent! Mediocrity is never an option!

16. Whenever people talk glibly of a need to achieve educational ‘excellence, ‘ I think of what an improvement it would be if our public schools could just achieve mediocrity. — Thomas Sowell

17. It is vital to avoid mediocrity–living a life of deadness in someone else’s threadbare world. — Miriam A. Walker

18. There is something maddening about mediocrity that calls forth the worst in those who are forced to deal with it. — Moss Hart, Act One

19. There is an infinite difference between a little wrong and just right, between fairly good and the best, between mediocrity and superiority. — Orison Swett Marden

20. Most of our pocket wisdom is conceived for the use of mediocre people, to discourage them from ambitious attempts, and generally console them in their mediocrity. — Robert Louis Stevenson

21. Nobody intentionally sets out to fail or dwell in mediocrity. — T.C. Peterson, Dreams Are For Doers: Get Off The Pity Train And Get What You Want

22. Moderation leads to Mediocrity, Intensity leads to Excellence. — Suleman Abdullah

23. There is an infinite difference between a little wrong and just right, between fairly good and the best, between mediocrity and superiority. — Orison Swett Marden

24. I love that the level of mediocrity rises. — Paula Scher

25. Do you know great minds enjoy excellence, average minds love mediocrity and small minds adore comfort zones? — Onyi Anyado

26. An artist must take comfort that there’s no satisfaction whatsoever with one’s creation, just a dissatisfaction that keeps one a step away from sliding into mediocrity. — Val Uchendu

27. You know you’ve reached a new plateau of group mediocrity when even a Canadian is alarmed by your lack of individuality. — Sarah Vowell, Assassination Vacation

28. The imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

29. Most of our pocket wisdom is conceived for the use of mediocre people, to discourage them from ambitious attempts, and generally console them in their mediocrity. — Robert Louis Stevenson

30. We are born winners, but we are hypnotized by the society to succumb to mediocrity and moulded into self–victimization. It is for each one of us to regain our self–geniusness. — Vishwas Chavan

31. I am incapable of mediocrity. — Serge Gainsbourg

32. The thorny path to greatness is better than the rosy path to mediocrity. — Matshona Dhliwayo

33. The English public always feels perfectly at ease when a mediocrity is talking to it. — Oscar Wilde

34. I have a horror of not rising above mediocrity. — Robert Baldwin

35. The thing I’m not good with is mediocrity, when someone isn’t really trying to reach something. — Nicole Kidman

36. I love that the level of mediocrity rises. — Paula Scher

37. You know you’ve reached a new plateau of group mediocrity when even a Canadian is alarmed by your lack of individuality. — Sarah Vowell, Assassination Vacation

38. Mediocrity is always in a rush — but whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing with consideration. For genius is nothing more nor less than doing well what anyone can do badly.

39. Competition is always a good thing. It forces us to do our best. A monopoly renders people complacent and satisfied with mediocrity. — Nancy Pearcey

40. Desire is what takes the hot water of mediocrity and turns it into the steam of outstanding success. — Zig Ziglar

41. Fear mediocrity, not failure. — Matshona Dhliwayo

42. I love that the level of mediocrity rises. — Paula Scher

43. Fear mediocrity, not failure. — Matshona Dhliwayo

44. Virtue is defined to be mediocrity, of which either extreme is vice. — Rutherford B. Hayes

45. Desire is what takes the hot water of mediocrity and turns it into the steam of outstanding success. — Zig Ziglar

46. I am incapable of mediocrity. — Serge Gainsbourg

47. Life without madness is mediocrity. — Nelou Keramati

48. You know you’ve reached a new plateau of group mediocrity when even a Canadian is alarmed by your lack of individuality. — Sarah Vowell, Assassination Vacation

49. There is no gap as wide as the one between mediocrity and genius. — Rutvik Oza

50. Being famous is not something that would make me feel successful–unless one was striving for mediocrity. — William Hurt

Conclusion

Remember, mediocrity is not something to strive for. It’s not a badge of honor. It’s something to be avoided at all costs. Instead, focus on excellence, on pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, and on creating something that will have a lasting impact on the world. There’s no substitute for hard work, dedication, and a never-ending commitment to greatness. With that in mind, go out and be the best version of yourself that you can be.