Genius

About Genius

“Genius is but the free and harmonious play of all the faculties of a human being.”
— Amos Bronson Alcott, The Doctrine and Discipline of Human Culture (Boston: James Munroe and Company, 1836), p. 13
“"Genius" (which means transcendent capacity of taking trouble, first of all).”
— Thomas Carlyle, Life of Fredrick the Great, Book IV, Chapter 3 (1858–1865); in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), this is declared comparable to:
“Genius is the power of lighting one's own fire.”
— John Foster, as quoted in Tact, Push, and Principle (1882) by William Makepeace Thayer, p. 48
“Genius is not so much a light as it is a constant awareness of the surrounding gloom.”
— Stanisław Lem, in His Master's Voice (1968) as translated by Michael Kandel (1983)
“Ilud ingeniorum velut præcox genus, non temere unquam pervenit ad frugem.”
— It seldom happens that a premature shoot of genius ever arrives at maturity.
“Learning we thank, Genius we revere: That gives us pleasure, This gives us rapture; That informs, This inspires; and is itself inspired; for genius is from heaven, learning from man.”
— Edward Young, Conjectures on Original Composition (1759)

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.