| We praise the mighty genius & despise
the idiot; but neither of these men made himself. If credit & blame
are due, they are due elsewhere. - Notebook #32, published in Pudd'nhead Wilson (2024) |
 AI image created by Barbara Schmidt |
|
... 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.
... Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered--either by themselves
or by others. Geniuses are people who dash off wierd, 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. |
 Sam Clemens with George Washington Cable during their 1884-85 lecture tour. |
Quotations | Newspaper Articles | Special Features | Links | Search