Salman Rushdie Quotes

Exaggeration, the inseparable companion of greatness.

Hyperbole was to Lyndon Johnson what oxygen is to life.

But Barry, to me, is head and shoulders above everybody.

Mediocrity is underrated.

Inflated descriptions by the pen or exaggerated illustrations by the pencil.

It is hard to be an island of excellence in a sea of indifference.

To me, the only sin is mediocrity.

The biggest fear in my life is being mediocre.

Exaggeration! was ever any virtue attributed to a man without exaggeration? was ever any vice, without infinite exaggeration? Do we not exaggerate ourselves to ourselves, or do we recognize ourselves for the actual men we are? Are we not all great men? Yet what are we actually, to speak of? We live by exaggeration.

Be special. Be anything but mediocre.

Exaggeration is a branch of lying.

I think writers are prone to hyperbole sometimes.

The idea for which this nation stands will not survive if the highest goal free man can set themselves is an amiable mediocrity. Excellence implies striving for the highest standards in every phase of life.

Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.

Excellence is a better teacher than mediocrity. The lessons of the ordinary are everywhere. Truly profound and original insights are to be found only in studying the exemplary.

My biggest fear in life is to be average.

I live in a constant state of hyperbole.

Mediocrity can talk, but it is for genius to observe.

She is clearly the best man among them.

The only kind of statement worth making is an overstatement.

Never a man to understate matters

We can’t all be better than everyone else.

I'm not trying to be average.

I don't want to be special.

I try to be as humble as possible, but I'm just on another level. That's all there is to it.