Jim Hightower – Quote Investigator®

Robert Frost? Margaret Thatcher? Dwight D. Eisenhower? Aneurin Bevan? Franklin P. Jones? I. P. Reynolds? Eric Nicol? John M. Ashbrook? William Penn Patrick? Sydney Harris? Alan Craig Loughrige? Jim Hightower? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Social relationships and political decisions often entail compromise. Yet, these intermediary policies, i.e., middle-of-the-road positions, frequently engender hostility. Here is a pertinent adage:

The middle of the road is where the white line is—and that’s the worst place to drive.

Prominent U.S. poet Robert Frost has received credit for this remark. Lines between lanes in the U.S. may be white or yellow. Cogent comments on this topic have been attributed to U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower and U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Would you please explore statements of this type?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Robert Frost appeared on a television show broadcast by educational television station WQED in 1956. The magazine “Collier’s” printed a collection of his statements delivered during the show. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:^[1]1956 April 27, Collier’s, Wise Man by Leonard Gross, (Educational television station WQED interviewed poet Robert Frost; quotations from Frost were printed in this article), Start Page 42, Quote … Continue reading

ON BEING YOURSELF

People have got to think. Thinking isn’t to agree or disagree. That’s voting.

Somebody said to me the other day, “Are you a middle-of-the-roader?” So I said, “Well, if you want to call me bad names. The middle of the road is where the white line is—and that’s the worst place to drive.”

Below are additional selected citations which fit the theme of middle-of the-road presented in chronological order.

Continue reading The Middle of the Road is Where the White Line Is—and That’s the Worst Place To Drive

References

References
↑1	1956 April 27, Collier’s, Wise Man by Leonard Gross, (Educational television station WQED interviewed poet Robert Frost; quotations from Frost were printed in this article), Start Page 42, Quote Page 42, Column 1, Crowell-Collier Publishing Company, Springfield, Ohio. (Unz)

Rollo May? Earl Nightingale? Jim Hightower? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: Uncommon or unconventional thoughts and behaviors can elicit hostility. To avoid estrangement many people consciously or unconsciously conform to societal expectations. Pursuing an individual path requires bravery and determination. Consider the following adage:

The opposite of courage isn’t cowardice; it’s conformity.

This notion has been attributed to psychologist Rollo May, motivational speaker Earl Nightingale, and political commentator Jim Hightower. What do you think?

Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared in the 1953 book “Man’s Search for Himself” by Rollo May. The vocabulary and thought were present in the following passage, but the expression was not compact. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:^[1] 1953, Man’s Search for Himself by Rollo May Ph.D., Chapter 7: Courage, The Virtue of Maturity, Quote Page 225, W. W. Norton & Company, New York. (Verified with scans)

The opposite to courage is not cowardice: that, rather, is the lack of courage. To say a person is a coward has no more meaning than to say he is lazy: it simply tells us that some vital potentiality is unrealized or blocked. The opposite to courage, as one endeavors to understand the problem in our particular age, is automaton conformity.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading The Opposite of Courage Is Not Cowardice; It Is Conformity

References

References
↑1	1953, Man’s Search for Himself by Rollo May Ph.D., Chapter 7: Courage, The Virtue of Maturity, Quote Page 225, W. W. Norton & Company, New York. (Verified with scans)