Full Idea
It is a terrible thought to contemplate that an immense number of mediocre thinkers are occupied with really influential matters.
Gist of Idea
How many mediocre thinkers are occupied with influential problems!
Source
Friedrich Nietzsche (Works (refs to 8 vol Colli and Montinari) [1885]), quoted by Rüdiger Safranski - Nietzsche: a philosophical biography 03
Book Reference
Safranski,Rüdiger: 'Nietzsche: a philosophical biography' [Granta 2003], p.52
A Reaction
[in a journal of 1867] What would he say now, with the plethora of academics and students aspiring to the highest levels of human thought? If I face up to the fact that I am 'mediocre', should I stop? And become mediocre at something else?