What's terrible is to pretend that second-rate is first-rate. To pretend that you don't need love when you do; or you like your work when you know quite well you're capable of better.

First-rate people hire first-rate people; second-rate people hire third-rate people.

A first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting.

But no work from a first rate mind is ever really second rate.

Time and distance from the first and second world wars doesn't seem to lessen their horrors.

If you go to a second-rate place, and you are first-rate, it is very difficult to do first-rate work because you do not get that critical feedback you need for first-rate work on a daily basis.