Mark Twain Quotes About Genius

• Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered - either by themselves or by others.

  Mark Twain

  Confidence, Self Esteem, Positive Thinking

  Mark Twain (2015). “Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 3: The Complete and Authoritative Edition”, p.58, Univ of California Press

• My books are like water; those of the great geniuses are wine. (Fortunately) everybody drinks water.

  Mark Twain

  Book, Wine, Water

• The insincerity of man-all men are liars, partial or hiders of facts, half tellers of truths, shirks, moral sneaks. When a merely honest man appears he is a comet-his fame is eternal-needs no genius, no talent-mere honesty

  Mark Twain

  Honesty, Liars, Men

  Mark Twain (2012). “Mark Twain at Your Fingertips: A Book of Quotations”, p.205, Courier Corporation

• Geniuses are people who dash off weird, wild, incomprehensible poems with astonishing facility, & then go & get booming drunk & sleep in the gutter. Genius elevates a man to ineffable speres [sic] far above the vulgar world, & fills his soul with a regal contempt for the gross & sordid things of earth. It is probably on account of this that people who have genius do not pay their board, as a general thing.

  Mark Twain

  Sleep, Men, People

• Hunger is the handmaid of genius

  Mark Twain

  Genius, Hunger, Handmaids

  Mark Twain (2012). “Mark Twain at Your Fingertips: A Book of Quotations”, p.141, Courier Corporation

• Genius, like gold and precious stones,
  is chiefly prized because of its rarity.

  Mark Twain

  Precious Stones, Gold, Genius

  Mark Twain, “Genius”

• The true and lasting genius of humour does not drag you thus to boxes labelled 'pathos,' 'humour,' and show you all the mechanism of the inimitable puppets that are going to perform. How I used to laugh at Simon Tapperwit, and the Wellers, and a host more! But I can't do it now somehow; and time, it seems to me, is the true test of humour. It must be antiseptic.

  Mark Twain

  Humor, Laughing, Doe

• In this age of inventive wonders all men have come to believe that in some genius' brain sleeps the solution of the grand problem of aerial navigation-and along with that belief is the hope that that genius will reveal his miracle before they die, and likewise a dread that he will poke off somewhere and die himself before he finds out that he has such a wonder lying dormant in his brain. We all know the air can be navigated-therefore, hurry up your sails and bladders-satisfy us-let us have peace.

  Mark Twain

  Lying, Believe, Sleep

  Mark Twain, John C. Gerber, Terry Firkins (1983). “Tom Sawyer Abroad ; Tom Sawyer Detective”, p.180, Univ of California Press

• The exercise of an extraordinary gift is the supremest pleasure in life.

  Mark Twain

  Life, Exercise, Insightful

  Mark Twain, Caroline Thomas Harnsberger (2009). “Mark Twain at Your Fingertips: A Book of Quotations”, p.359, Courier Corporation

• Genius has no youth, but starts with the ripeness of age and old experience.

  Mark Twain

  Age, Genius, Youth

  Mark Twain (2012). “Mark Twain at Your Fingertips: A Book of Quotations”, p.141, Courier Corporation

• Next to possessing genius one's self is the power of appreciating it in others.

  Mark Twain

  Power, Self, Appreciate

• It is impossible that a genius - at least a literary genius - can ever be discovered by his intimates; they are so close to him that he is out of focus to them and they can't get at his proportions; they can't perceive that there is any considerable difference between his bulk and their own.

  Mark Twain

  Differences, Focus, Genius

  Mark Twain (2012). “Mark Twain at Your Fingertips: A Book of Quotations”, p.141, Courier Corporation

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