Genius is nothing more than inflamed enthusiasm.
—Unknown
Ridicule is the tribute paid to the genius by the mediocrities.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.
—Buddhist Teaching
I have known no man of genius who had not to pay, in some affliction or defect, either physical or spiritual, for what the gods had given him.
—Max Beerbohm (1872–1956) British Essayist, Caricaturist, Novelist
To make the common marvelous is the test of genius.
—James Russell Lowell (1819–91) American Poet, Critic
The greatest genius is never so great as when it is chastised and subdued by the highest reason.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
The essence of genius is to know what to overlook.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
There is no great genius without some touch of madness.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Genius is essentially creative; it bears the stamp of the individual who possesses it.
—Anne Louise Germaine de Stael (1766–1817) French Woman of Letters
Talent may be in time forgiven, but genius never.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Every true genius is bound to be naive.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
No enemy is so terrible as a man of genius.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre minds. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
Genius is sorrow’s child.
—John Adams (1735–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
Whatever is highest and holiest is tinged with melancholy. The eye of genius has always a plaintive expression, and its natural language is pathos. A prophet is sadder than other men; and He who was greater than all the prophets was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”
—Lydia Maria Child (1802–80) American Abolitionist, Writer
Rising genius always shoots out its rays from among the clouds, but these will gradually roll away and disappear as it ascends to its steady luster.
—Washington Irving (1783–1859) American Essayist, Biographer, Historian
I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Genius is a native to the soil where it grows – is fed by the air, and warmed by the sun; and is not a hothouse plant or an exotic.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Few people can see genius in someone who has offended them.
—Robertson Davies (1913–95) Canadian Novelist, Playwright, Essayist
It takes a lot of time to be a genius. You have to sit around so much doing nothing, really doing nothing.
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) American Writer
The man of genius inspires us with a boundless confidence in our own powers.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Men give me credit for some genius. All the genius I have lies in this: When I have a subject in hand, I study it profoundly. Day and night it is before me. I explore it in all its bearings. My mind becomes pervaded with it. Then the effort which I have made is what people are pleased to call the fruit of genius. It is the fruit of labor and thought.
—Alexander Hamilton (c.1757–1804) American Federalist Politician, Statesman
Genius may conceive but patient labor must consummate
—Horace Mann (1796–1859) American Educator, Politician, Educationalist
Genius is present in every age, but the men carrying it within them remain benumbed unless extraordinary events occur to heat up and melt the mass so that it flows forth.
—Denis Diderot (1713–84) French Philosopher, Writer
The first and last thing required of genius is the love of truth.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
In the republic of mediocrity, genius is dangerous.
—Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–99) American Lawyer, Orator, Agnostic
Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.—It is the real allegory of the tale of Orpheus; it moves stones, and charms brutes.—It is the genius of sincerity, and truth accomplishes no victories without it.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
Men of genius are often dull and inert in society, as a blazing meteor when it descends to earth, is only a stone.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
Accept your genius and say what you think.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
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