The greatest thing my dad taught me came from when I called him from a phone booth and said, 'Hungry. No bus token. Please. Out of options.' He said, 'Pfft, get a job.
Robert Downey, Jr.Read
Mediocrity is my biggest fear. I'm not afraid of total failure because I don't think that will happen. I'm not afraid of success because that beats the hell out of failure. It's being in the middle that scares me.
Interpretation
The fear of being average or mediocre drives a desire for excellence and higher achievements.
In this quote, Robert Downey, Jr. expresses a profound fear of mediocrity, suggesting that he is not concerned about failing completely or succeeding greatly. Instead, the idea of remaining in a state of average or complacency is what truly terrifies him. This perspective highlights the importance of striving for greatness and not settling for a life that lacks passion or purpose.
In practice
In a speech about overcoming obstacles, you might say, 'Mediocrity is my biggest fear, and I strive every day to achieve greatness.'
The greatest thing my dad taught me came from when I called him from a phone booth and said, 'Hungry. No bus token. Please. Out of options.' He said, 'Pfft, get a job.
I have a really interesting political point of view, and its not always something I say too loud at dinner tables here, but you cant go from a $2,000-a-night suite at La Mirage to a penitentiary and really understand it and come out a liberal. You cant. I wouldnt wish that experience on anyone else, but it was very, very, very educational for me and has informed my proclivities and politics every since.
Growing up is something that you do your whole life. I want to always feel that I can be a kid if I want. Growing up has some negative connotations. Like, you're not supposed to roll around on the ground anymore. You're not supposed to make fun of yourself. You're not supposed to ride a bicycle. But I'm a Toys-R-Us kid.
I always think part of success is being able to replicate results, taking what is interesting or viable about yourself as a professional person and seeing if you bring it into different situations with similar results.
It's interesting when you're old enough to take a new, objective approach looking at your parents, frame them in a way where you are actually taking yourself out of the equation and just look at the things that are true about their life.
All I want, and I think all any parent with a semblance of a moral psychology wants, is for my kid to have his own experience, uninhibited.
Follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.
Failure is not fatal. Only failure to get back up is.
Great difficulties may be surmounted by patience and perseverance.
Every night on the court I give my all, and if I'm not giving 100 percent, I criticize myself.
But if it's tolerable mediocrity, and you're like, 'Well, you know it could be worse. At least I'm getting paid.' Then you wind up in a job that is slowly killing your soul and you're allowing that to happen. Comfort can be a very, very dangerous thing.
Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.
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