Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0001266, Fri, 6 Sep 1996 10:15:45 -0700

Subject
query: mediocrity (fwd)
Date
Body
From: Steven G. Kellman <kellman@lonestar.jpl.utsa.edu>

I believe that the quip is originally derived from La Rochefoucauld's
maxim: "Hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue."
Steven G. Kellman
The University of Texas at San Antonio

On Thu, 5 Sep 1996, Donald Barton Johnson wrote:

> EDITOR'S NOTE: David Stroud <pomo@voicenet.com> presents the following
> query. AS I vaguely recall the quote is rather garbled but recognizable.
> -------------------------------
>
> I recently heard a question posed by Nabokov. It went something like
> this: Is mediocrity the compliment to genius... This is all I remember.
> Can you complete this passage for me and direct me to its source. Also,
> could you relate to me its context and what he was really asking. Thank
> you in advance.
>
> David Stroud
>