Glorifying the Mediocre – Sunday, May 21, 1944
There comes to mind a phrase of three words—Glorifying the Mediocre—which is indicative of a practice whereby young and old are schooled in a world of unreality and confused thinking. In its mildest forms, in casual conversation and in the recounting of experiences to our friends and acquaintances, it may be recognized by a tendency toward moderate exaggeration—placing emphasis where it doesn’t belong; adding color to what really happened; speaking in terms of quantities and qualities that are somewhat beyond the facts. In its more aggravated forms this practice of glorifying the mediocre goes beyond mild exaggeration to the extreme of deliberate and premeditated hyperbole, coupled with prodigal use of extravagant words.
We do not, by any means, use the English language exhaustively; thousands of words lie buried in the dictionary, never seen, never heard, never known by most men—but a few hundred words, some of which are most extravagant, are greatly overworked. Indeed, there are those who have lost the art of understatement, and with whom hyperbole is worn and weary—whose only regret is that there are not more grand and superb and incomparable and stupendous adjectives for the glorifying of the mediocre. But calling the commonplace colossal, or the greatest whatever-it-is of all time, is much like crying “wolf, wolf!” If every performer comes on with fanfare, there isn’t much left for the real star. If everything is great, if everything is unprecedented, if everything is said to be indispensable, if everything is the chance of a lifetime, an opportunity that will never come again, language soon takes on the dullness that comes with over sharpening.
After using a superlative there isn’t much more that can be said to add strength or to fortify conviction. It is no wonder, then, that our youngsters sometimes become loose in their thinking and immoderate in their speech. They have been schooled by observation in the prevalent practice of glorifying the mediocre. If everything commonplace is clothed with glamour and garnished with unrestrained words, and propped up with insupportable claims, it is going to be difficult for any generation to be straight and sound and sure in its thinking. This business of glorifying the mediocre and misrepresenting the commonplace is basically unethical, and is making it difficult for our children to distinguish between sterling and tinsel. And it may make it difficult for us to recognize the real thing when it does come along.
By Richard L. Evans, spoken from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Sunday, May 21, 1944, over Radio Station KSL and the nationwide Columbia Broadcasting System. Copyright – 1944.
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May 21, 1944
Broadcast Number 0,770