It is not by an all-round education or by catholicity of interests that first-rate eminence is achieved: it is achieved by concentration and a certain narrowness both emotional and intellectual. In a world where all young people have the same environment, and the same standards presented for their acceptance, this does not easily happen. Diversity is necessary to distinction, and uniformity in education tends to produce mediocrity in adult life.
Source: Are we too passive? (written in Feb. 3, 1932 and published in Mortals and Others, v.1, 1975)
More info.:http://russell-j.com/FATHER.HTM