Daily Inspiration Quote by Frank Moore Colby

Politics, in Colby’s telling, isn’t the arena of grand virtue or towering intellect; it’s a low-ceilinged room where expectations have been sanded down to the point of parody. The line lands because it dresses up a bleak observation in the language of civility: “humble hopes” and “modest requirements” sound almost wholesome until you realize he’s describing a moral economy so depleted that basic non-feloniousness qualifies as goodness and simple non-absurdity passes for wisdom.

The subtext is an indictment of how democratic societies manage disappointment. We don’t just tolerate mediocrity; we institutionalize it through the stories we tell ourselves about “practical” leadership. Colby’s structure is the knife: two parallel clauses that mimic the reassuring rhythm of common sense, then twist into a critique of how the bar gets set. “All are good who are not criminal” doesn’t praise decency, it exposes how easily we confuse the absence of scandal for the presence of character. “All are wise who are not ridiculously otherwise” is even harsher: wisdom becomes not insight, but the ability to avoid obvious self-sabotage in public.

As an educator, Colby is especially tuned to standards and how they slip. His context is the early 20th-century American civic landscape, when mass politics, machine power, and reform-era anxieties made “respectability” a substitute for competence. The intent isn’t merely to sneer at politicians; it’s to shame the audience that rewards them. When a culture treats minimal eligibility as excellence, it shouldn’t be surprised by the leaders it gets.