# "Small minds talk about people; mediocre minds talk about events; great minds....
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 30, 2006, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201 "2006-01-30T14:17:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/21 "2006-01-30T21:28:03Z")
I’d simply point out that there are some fantastic biographers and historians out there who are obsessed with people and events. I don’t think that makes them dumb.
And, since this is the SDMB, I’d point out that Bush often talks about the big idea of democratizing the Middle East. I leave it to others to expound upon on what I imply.
So, I disagree.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2006, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/22 "2006-01-30T21:38:50Z")
A person who spoke and thought only about ideas would be pretty damned divorced from the real world. Is that “great?” No. Solipsistic, maybe, but not great.
There’s a grain of truth behind this quip, sure. Talking only about people becomes petty, and talking only about events is reactive. If you have a grasp of the world of ideas, you can discuss what’s causing events and bring other dimensions to the conversation. But ultimately I agree with **Giraffe**. I hate bumper-sticker philosophy.
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### Author:  [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2006, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/23 "2006-01-30T22:03:31Z")
> [@Epimetheus](#):
>
> People that like to discuss big ideas and don’t care to deal with people, be they anti-social or whatnot, like to believe this saying is true, and people that are small minded or very sociable, intelligent or not, do not think it is.
I should hope that small minds believe, while great minds conclude.
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### Author:  [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/24 "2006-01-30T22:18:05Z")
> [@js\_africanus](#):
>
> I should hope that small minds believe, while great minds conclude.
I read that as “…great minds collude.”
I like my version better!
😃
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### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/25 "2006-01-30T22:18:41Z")
Bah. I talk about all three.
- Tamerlane
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### Author:  [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2006, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/26 "2006-01-31T00:21:22Z")
> [@js\_africanus](#):
>
> I should hope that small minds believe, while great minds conclude.
Well, you have to believe your conclusions right?
D&R
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### Author:  [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2006, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/27 "2006-01-31T04:56:47Z")
> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> Small minds obsessively categorise people by means of overly-simplistic jingoisms, such as the title of this thread.
_applause_
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### Author:  [@bitwise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bitwise)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2006, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/28 "2006-01-31T05:21:06Z")
> [@Diamonds02](#):
>
> Conversations about people do not always involve gossip or shit talking. It can simply involve who’s doing what, and your interpretations of their actions.
I do not think this is a good criterion for distinguishing what’s gossip from what’s not.
Not gossip: What do you think Osama bin Laden meant when he said X in the latest video of him that was released?
Gossip: Do you think A was flirting with B when she said Y?
In any case, some conversations are not so easy to categorize.
“I met a girl who has no recollection of the Cold War. I suppose it is obvious, but it is not something one thinks about until confronted with it: a person who was four at the time would have no recollection of the Berlin Wall falling. As more and more time passes, the history that people are taught will have to become more and more compressed. Do you suppose that the Cold War will be relegated to a footnote?”
Person, event, or idea?
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### Author:  [@Ben123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben123)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/29 "2011-10-30T04:09:03Z")
> [@Epimetheus](#):
>
> People that like to discuss big ideas and don’t care to deal with people, be they anti-social or whatnot, like to believe this saying is true, and people that are small minded or very sociable, intelligent or not, do not think it is.
>
> People adopt philosophies and sayings that support their idea or tribe.
>
> Therefore this statment is as meaningless as any other claim, such as those that paint intellectuals as living in an ivory tower.
🙂 Some people like to gossip about others because it helps them vent. It’s a human pastime. Christianity also causes a lot of people to judge others with gossip. (gossip is when u talk about others when they are not present.)
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/30 "2011-10-30T04:29:49Z")
And zombies talk about…
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### Author:  [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/31 "2011-10-30T05:25:57Z")
BRAAAAAAAAAIIIINNS!
In a gossipy, valley-girl voice, of course…
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### Author:  [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/32 "2011-10-30T05:43:10Z")
What do delicious minds talk about?
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### Author:  [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/33 "2011-10-30T05:51:31Z")
It’s one of those trite facebook type quotes that’s supposed to make the poster sound oh so much deeper than everyone else. An interesting human person talks about all of those things and if they don’t they’re boring. I have a friend who only talks about ideas, his own ideas. He’s boring. His ideas are boring too and he has no interest in anything outside of himself. He would think this quote is true because he thinks he has the greatest mind ever.
So, I would have a small mind if I talked about my mom to my friends? Or I’m mediocre if I talk about an upcoming event I want to attend? It’s a rubbish saying.
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### Author:  [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/34 "2011-10-30T06:55:15Z")
and great minds talk on SDMB. Full stop. End.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/35 "2011-10-30T09:09:28Z")
I’d heard it as small minds mostly talk about themselves (under the assumption that they can’t process anything beyond that), greater minds also talk about the world around them, and the greatest minds also talk about abstract ideas.
I think it’s true to an extent, but it means there are a lot of great minds, as any average person can talk about ideas.
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### Author:  [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/36 "2011-10-30T09:47:17Z")
Minds can’t talk.
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### Author:  [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/37 "2011-10-30T11:40:59Z")
**"Small minds talk about people; mediocre minds talk about events; great minds…**
I’m not sure, but I’m feeling the urge to go shopping.
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### Author:  [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/38 "2011-10-30T11:48:50Z")
And great minds start to wonder if they’re losing their minds when they realize that they’ve already weighed in on this topic and can’t really remember posting to it. Then they feel a bit of relief when they notice that the topic is nearly six years old.
😉
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### Author:  [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/39 "2011-10-30T13:04:18Z")
Disagree, and I loathe the sentiment. Most people talk about everything, whether it’s some idiot pontificating on how to fix the economy or a genius asking his friend how his kid is doing. The quality changes, but the subject matter seems to be spread around.
I think some people just like to act like caring what about other people are doing is beneath them.
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### Author:  [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-minds-talk-about-people-mediocre-minds-talk-about-events-great-minds/342201/40 "2011-10-30T16:41:19Z")
Well rounded minds talk about all three.
Those with limited minds talk about one of the three.
As in “My God theres a Tsunami approaching!”
“Yes, Yes but didn’t Kant once postulate…”
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