#genius

The world is not so much in need of new thoughts as that when thought grows old and worn with usage it should, like current coin, be called in, and, from the mint of genius, reissued fresh and new. ↗

— Alexander Smith

#coin #current #fresh #genius #grows

Genius is essentially creative; it bears the stamp of the individual who possesses it. ↗

— Madame de Stael

#creative #essentially #genius #individual #possesses

Innocence in genius, and candor in power, are both noble qualities. ↗

— Madame de Stael

#candor #genius #innocence #noble #noble qualities

The man of genius is he and he alone who finds such joy in his art that he will work at it come hell or high water. ↗

— Stendhal

#art #come #finds #genius #hell

All the genius I have lies in this; when I have a subject in hand, I study it profoundly. ↗

— Alexander Hamilton Stephens

#hand #i #lies #profoundly #study

I'm all in favor of the democratic principle that one idiot is as good as one genius, but I draw the line when someone takes the next step and concludes that two idiots are better than one genius. ↗

— Leo Szilard

#concludes #democratic #draw #favor #genius

Every man is a potential genius until he does something. ↗

— Herbert Beerbohm Tree

#every #every man #genius #man #potential

Unless you are a genius, it is best to aim at being intelligible. ↗

— Anthony Hope

#being #best #genius #intelligible #unless

I quite agree with Dr. Nordau's assertion that all men of genius are insane, but Dr. Nordau forgets that all sane people are idiots. ↗

— Oscar Wilde

#humor #humor

In my opinion, if, as the result of certain combinations, Kepler's or Newton's discoveries could become known to people in no other way than by sacrificing the lives of one, or ten, or a hundred or more people who were hindering the discovery, or standing as an obstacle in its path, then Newton would have the right, and it would even be his duty... to remove those ten or a hundred people, in order to make his discoveries known to mankind. It by no means follows from this, incidentally, that Newton should have the right to kill anyone he pleases, whomever happens along, or to steal from the market every day. Further, I recall developing in my article the idea that all... well, let's say, the lawgivers and founders of mankind, starting from the most ancient and going on to the Lycurguses, the Solons, the Muhammads, the Napoleons, and so forth, that all of them to a man were criminals, from the fact alone that in giving a new law, they thereby violated the old one, held sacred by society and passed down from their fathers, and they certainly did not stop at shedding blood either, if it happened that blood (sometimes quite innocent and shed valiantly for the ancient law) could help them. ↗

— Fyodor Dostoyevsky

#genius #greatness #the-ends-justify-the-means #utilitarianism #marketing