Genius Quotes - Page 9

• We are as much informed of a writer's genius by what he selects as by what he originates.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Writing, Choices

  Ralph Waldo Emerson (2010). “Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Volume VIII: Letters and Social Aims”, p.102, Harvard University Press

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• Genius is that energy which collects, combines, amplifies, and animates.

  Samuel Johnson

  Inspirational, Energy, Amplify

  Samuel Johnson (1810). “The works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With An essay on his life and genius”, p.169

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• Genius creates, and taste preserves.

  Alexander Pope

  Sublime, Intelligence, Taste

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• Highly developed spirits often encounter resistance from mediocre minds.

  Albert Einstein

  Political, Mind, Encounters

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• Genius without religion is only a lamp on the outer gate of a palace; it may serve to cast a gleam of light on those that are without, while the inhabitant sits in darkness.

  Hannah More

  Christian, Light, Darkness

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• Genius unexerted is no more genius than a bushel of acorns is a forest of oaks.

  Henry Ward Beecher

  War, Science, Forests

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• Every work of Genius is tinctured by the feelings, and often originates in the events of times.

  Isaac D'Israeli

  Feelings, Events

  "The Literary Character, Illustrated by the History of Men of Genius". Book by Isaac D'Israeli, chapter XXV, 1795-1822.

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• The richest genius, like the most fertile soil, when uncultivated, shoots up into the rankest weeds.

  David Hume

  Weed, Soil, Philosopher

  David Hume (2016). “Delphi Complete Works of David Hume (Illustrated)”, p.664, Delphi Classics

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• Genius is nothing but continued attention.

  Claude Adrien Helvetius

  Motivational, Knowledge, Focus

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• The essence of genius is to know what to overlook.

  William James

  Philosophical, Essence, Awareness

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• Genius, indeed, melts many ages into one, and thus effects something permanent, yet still with a similarity of office to that of the more ephemeral writer. A work of genius is but the newspaper of a century, or perchance of a hundred centuries.

  Nathaniel Hawthorne

  Office, Age, Ephemeral

  Nathaniel Hawthorne (1846). “Mosses from an Old Manse...: In Two Parts”, p.18

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• Genius might be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way.

  Charles Bukowski

  Inspirational, Life, Simple

  Charles Bukowski (2008). “Charles Bukowski: portions from a wine-stained notebook : uncollected stories and essays, 1944-1990”, City Lights Publishers

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• Fortune has rarely condescended to be the companion of genius.

  Isaac D'Israeli

  Fortune, Companion

  "Curiosities of Literature, Poverty of the Learned". Book by Isaac D'Israeli, 1766 - 1848.

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• If you wish to succeed in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius.

  Joseph Addison

  Inspirational, Life, Success

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• Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind, which are delivered down from generation to generation as presents to the posterity of those who are yet unborn.

  Joseph Addison

  Book, Legacy, Generations

  Joseph Addison, Sir Richard Steele (1826). “The Spectator: With Notes, and a General Index”, p.216

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• Common sense is instinct, and enough of it is genius.

  Josh Billings

  Common Sense, Comedy, Talent

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• Since when was genius found respectable?

  Elizabeth Barrett Browning

  Respect, Statistics, Found

  'Aurora Leigh' (1857) bk. 6, l. 275

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• Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains.

  Thomas Carlyle

  Life, Motivational, Pain

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• Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

  Calvin Coolidge

  Inspirational, Motivational, Strength

  Quoted in Quotable Calvin Coolidge, ed. Peter Hannaford (2001).

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• 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

  Men, Age, Literature

  Denis Diderot (1966). “Selected Writings”, New York : Macmillan

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• Every production of genius must be the production of enthusiasm.

  Benjamin Disraeli

  Inspirational, Intelligent, Enthusiasm For Life

  Isaac Disraeli, Benjamin Disraeli (Earl of Beaconsfield) (1861). “Curiosities of literature”, p.213

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• When nature has work to be done, she creates a genius to do it.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Inspirational, Life, Nature

  Ralph Waldo Emerson, Robert Ernest Spiller, Alfred Riggs Ferguson, Joseph Slater, Jean Ferguson Carr (1971). “The Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Nature, addresses, and lectures”, p.128, Harvard University Press

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• Genius always finds itself a century too early.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Intelligence, Talent, Century

  Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ralph H. Orth, Glen M. Johnson (1994). “The Topical Notebooks of Ralph Waldo Emerson”, p.81, University of Missouri Press

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• The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.

  Bruce Feirstein

  Inspirational, Motivational, Success

  "Fictional character: Elliot Carver". "Tomorrow Never Dies", www.imdb.com. 1997.

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• Let schoolmasters puzzle their brain, With grammar, and nonsense, and learning, Good liquor, I stoutly maintain, Gives genius a better discerning.

  Oliver Goldsmith

  Giving, Brain, Intelligence

  'She Stoops to Conquer' (1773) act 1, sc. 1, song

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