New quotations on genius

[Kevin Solway]

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

To see things in the seed, that is genius. - Lao-tzu

Do you know what makes a man a genius? The ability to see the obvious. - Charles McCarry

Everyone is born with genius, but most people only keep it a few minutes. - Edgard Varese (1883 - 1965)

Intellectuals solve problems; geniuses prevent them. - Albert Einstein

I swear to you, sirs, that excessive consciousness is a disease -- a genuine, absolute disease. For everyday human existence it would more than suffice to have the ordinary share of human consciousness; that is to say, one half, one quarter that that which falls to the lot of a cultivated man in our wretched nineteenth century [...] It would, for instance, be quite enough to have the amount of consciousness by which all the so-called simple, direct people and men of action live. - Fyodor Dostoevsky

It [genius] is personality with a penny's worth of talent. Error which chances to rise above the commonplace. - Pablo Picasso

Once you had to be a genius to make works of art. Now you have to be a genius to understand them. - Roy Emmins

Every man is a potential genius until he does something. - Sir Herbert Beerbohm

The reason we have so few geniuses is that people do not have faith in what they know to be true. - Kevin Solway

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

Kevin Solway wrote:

The reason we have so few geniuses is that people do not have faith in what they know to be true. - Kevin Solway

That looks fun - let's all come up with some genius quotes. Here's one:

Genius is noting the droll humor in common solutions. - Elizabeth Isabelle

[Matt Gregory]

It has often struck me when reading a good poem or some other work of genius that it was a good thing after all that I myself was not its author, for then I would not be allowed to vent my joy without fear of being accused of vanity. - Kierkegaard


For, in my view, being victorious doesn't mean that I triumph but that the idea triumphs through me, even if it also means I am sacrificed. - Kierkegaard

[Kevin Solway]

Every man is a potential genius until he does something.

The above quote is an interesting one because it can have two completely different, yet wise meanings:

On the one hand, it can mean "Everyone is born with genius, but most people only keep it a few minutes."

On the other hand it can mean that a person becomes a real genius the moment he does something. Most people never do anything.

[sue hindmarsh]

Most people can't do anything because they don't trust their own minds enough. The fear is that if they do trust their minds and do act, they will perhaps then suffer. But to not trust your mind and to not act is itself an 'act' - one that brings with it its own suffering. Therefore, you might as well trust your mind and act, for then at least any suffering that comes to you is something you are somewhat prepared for and open to.

-
Sue

[Ryan Rudolph]

Kevin Solway wrote:

The reason we have so few geniuses is that people do not have faith in what they know to be true. - Kevin Solway

What about this:

The reason we have so few geniuses is that people have faith in propositions that are not true - Cosmic Prostitute

What is the difference between these two statements Kevin?

You're statement isnt clear to me, If I know that an assertion is true then arent I confident in what I know to be true?

truth is a way of living, If I'm not living truth then I dont 'know' the truth to begin with. I'm not living the truth because I have faith in something else.

You cannot 'know' the truth and not have faith in it, that seems like a contradiction to me.

To my mind, it seems like it's all or nothing, but perhaps you could humbly correct me if I am mistaken.

[Cory Duchesne]

Hey Kevin,

I was wondering if you could clear something up in regards to this Doestevsky quote:


I swear to you, sirs, that excessive consciousness is a disease -- a genuine, absolute disease. For everyday human existence it would more than suffice to have the ordinary share of human consciousness; that is to say, one half, one quarter that that which falls to the lot of a cultivated man in our wretched nineteenth century [...] It would, for instance, be quite enough to have the amount of consciousness by which all the so-called simple, direct people and men of action live. - Fyodor Dostoevsky

It would be easy for someone to come onto the genius forum and get the impression that the midwifes are advocating ‘excessive consciousness’. One gets this impression by how unfavorable woman are presented – depicted as unconscious. But I realize that it is all about context.

I’m guessing that this excessive consciousness that Fyodor is talking about is really a form of unconscious?

In what context are woman ‘excessively conscious’? Or can they be?

Is an excessive conscious male an example of an evil being, a being who is one step up from woman?

Could someone give me some examples of your typical man who has excessive consciousness?

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

The genius is the crazy idiot whose solutions keep working for reasons that no one else can figure out.
- Elizabeth Isabelle

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

CP wrote:

Kevin Solway wrote:

Quote:
The reason we have so few geniuses is that people do not have faith in what they know to be true. - Kevin Solway


...

The reason we have so few geniuses is that people have faith in propositions that are not true - Cosmic Prostitute

What is the difference between these two statements Kevin?

I think that if we replace "The reason" with "One reason" in both quotes, then we have even more truth.

[Ryan Rudolph]

Elizabeth wrote:

I think that if we replace "The reason" with "One reason" in both quotes, then we have even more truth.

Well aren’t you the crazy little idiot coming up with solutions that no one else can figure out?

PS: hey Elizabeth, check it out:

“Genius is noting the droll humor in common solutions.” - Elizabeth Isabelle

Wink, wink, elbow shove ….

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

L-O-L !!! :D

[Tek]

All you need is love- John Lennon
For you are the seeker of your own truth- Christopher F.

[Ryan Rudolph]

The Genius only becomes a genius by accident because he has failed miserably and painfully at becoming everything else - Cosmic Prostitute

The genius is the one who stops singing along to sad songs – Cosmic Prostitute

If life gives you lemons, don’t eat it for Christ sakes because lemons are sour – Cosmic Prostitute

The man who is charming and has a well hung penius is too attractive to the females and therefore he is doomed as far as becoming a genius is concerned, Did I mention I was married? – Cosmic Prostitute

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

I like this one:

The Genius only becomes a genius by accident because he has failed miserably and painfully at becoming everything else - Cosmic Prostitute

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

Okay, some quotes from others:

When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.
— Jonathan Swift

What is genius?—To will both a lofty goal and the means to achieving it.
— Friedrich Nietzsche

Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored.
— Abraham Lincoln

Men of genius are often dull and inert in society; as the blazing meteor, when it descends to earth, is only a stone.
— Longfellow

Talent is that which is in a man's power; genius is that in whose power man is.
— James Russell Lowell

Freedom is the only law which genius knows.
— James Russell Lowell

The real people of genius were resolute workers not idle dreamers.
— George Henry Lewes

Genius differs from talent not by the amount of original thoughts, but by making the latter fertile and by positioning them properly, in other words, by integrating everything into a whole, whereas talent produces only fragments, no matter how beautiful.
— Franz Grillparzer

Genius unrefined resembles a flash of lightning, but wisdom is like the sun.
— Franz Grillparzer

Talent is what you possess; genius is what possesses you.
— Malcolm Cowley

Intelligence recognizes what has happened. Genius recognizes what will happen.
— John Ciardi

True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.
— Winston Churchill

Genius makes its observations in short-hand; talent writes them out at length.
— Christian Nevell Bovee

Since when was genius found respectable?
— Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Although I tried not to duplicate any on the quotes page, I may have inadvertantly done so.

[Cory Duchesne]

One quotes other people and refers to the quotes of other people to the degree that ones own understanding lacks breadth, depth and flexibility.

One stands on the shoulders of giants, in order to play 'pretend giant'.

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

Cory wrote:

One quotes other people and refers to the quotes of other people to the degree that ones own understanding lacks breadth, depth and flexibility.

and I add:

With the increased exposure to the thoughts of others, one then one's understanding is fed, affording an opportunity to grow.

Cory wrote:

One stands on the shoulders of giants, in order to play 'pretend giant'.

and I add:

Then the brave soul, standing atop a giant, jumps up, grabs a branch of the tallest tree of wisdom, and climbs that tree to view a spectacular view of the world.

[Cory Duchesne]

Elizabeth: Then the brave soul, standing atop a giant, jumps up, grabs a branch of the tallest tree

yeah, and branch breaks, and brave soul falls down and hurts bottom.


The moral is: be rooted and grow yourself instead of climb over and atop others.

Ah, but i'll admit, the quotes of genius can indeed be sunshine and rain.

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

Sunshine and rain together bring rainbows, don't they?

[Cory Duchesne]

My, my - - Elizabeth you are quite the rainbow yourself, arnt-cha?

And I'm just like dee little leprechaun - - - I'll take yee to the pot o' gold!

tee-hee-hee.

arggh, I will regret clicking 'submit' for this one I daresay.

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

:) Too late, I already saw the post. :)

[Rhett]

.

Genius is the one who understands how lacking in genius others are.

.

[Rhett]

.

If he had enough time the genius would become perfect at everything, but instead he chooses one thing.

.

[Blair]

The genius being flows but with all else - prince

[Matt Gregory]

Genius is the sentence with a meaning that is correct.