Obscurity and competence: That is the life that is worth living.

Obscurity and competence: That is the life that is worth living.

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.

He who has lived obscurely and quietly has lived well.
[Lat., Bene qui latuit, bene vixit.]

He who has lived obscurely and quietly has lived well.
[Lat., Bene qui latuit, bene vixit.]

Everybody is so talented nowadays that the only people I care to honour as deserving real distinction are those who read more

Everybody is so talented nowadays that the only people I care to honour as deserving real distinction are those who remain in obscurity.

Darkness is to space what silence is to sound, i.e., the interval.

Darkness is to space what silence is to sound, i.e., the interval.

Yet still he fills affection's eye,
Obscurely wise, and coarsely kind.

Yet still he fills affection's eye,
Obscurely wise, and coarsely kind.

How often the highest talent lurks in obscurity.
[Lat., Ut saepe summa ingenia in occulto latent!]

How often the highest talent lurks in obscurity.
[Lat., Ut saepe summa ingenia in occulto latent!]

As night the life-inclining stars best shows,
So lives obscure the starriest souls disclose.

As night the life-inclining stars best shows,
So lives obscure the starriest souls disclose.