WIST Quotations

Doyle, Arthur Conan -- Story (1886-04), “A Study in Scarlet,” Part 1, ch. 2 [Watson], Beeton’s Christmas Annual, Vol. 28 (1887-11-21)

Dave — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 23:31:09 +0000

I had no idea that such individuals exist outside of stories.

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) British writer and physician
Story (1886-04), “A Study in Scarlet,” Part 1, ch. 2 [Watson], Beeton’s Christmas Annual, Vol. 28 (1887-11-21)
(Source)

Watson to Holmes, comparing him to Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin (a comparison that Holmes sniffs at).

Published in novel form 1888-07.

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 22, The Last Continent (1998)

Dave — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 23:22:30 +0000

A flash of inspiration struck him with all the force and brilliance that ideas have when they’re travelling through beer.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 22, The Last Continent (1998)
(Source)

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 7 (1963)

Dave — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 18:40:27 +0000

No matter how brilliantly an idea is stated, we will not really be moved unless we have half-thought of it ourselves.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 7 (1963)
(Source)

Pasternak, Boris -- Doctor Zhivago [До́ктор Жива́го], Part 1, ch. 1 “The Five-O’Clock Express,” sec. 4 [Nikolai Nikolaievich] (1955) [tr. Hayward & Harari (1958), UK ed.]

Dave — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 20:26:20 +0000

Of course one does meet brilliant men, but they are isolated. The fashion nowadays is all for groups and societies of every sort. — It is always a sign of mediocrity in people when they herd together, whether their group loyalty is to Solovyev or to Kant or Marx. The truth is only sought by individuals, and they break with those who do not love it enough.

Boris Pasternak (1890-1960) Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator
Doctor Zhivago [До́ктор Жива́го], Part 1, ch. 1 “The Five-O’Clock Express,” sec. 4 [Nikolai Nikolaievich] (1955) [tr. Hayward & Harari (1958), UK ed.]
(Source)

Alternate translations:

Yes, there are gifted men, but the fashion nowadays is all for groups and societies of every sort. Gregariousness is always the refuge of mediocrities, whether they swear by Solovyiëv or Kant or Marx. Only individuals seek the truth, and they shun those whose sole concern is not the truth.
[tr. Hayward & Harari (1958), US ed.]

You come across talented people. But now various circles and associations are the fashion. Every herd is a refuge for giftlessness, whether it's a faith in Soloviev, or Kant, or Marx. Only the solitary seek the truth, and they break with all those who don't love it sufficiently.
[tr. Pevear & Volokhonsky (2010)]

Fitzgerald, F. Scott -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 21:23:31 +0000

To be kind is more important than to be right. Many times, what people need is not a brilliant mind that speaks but a special heart that listens.

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) American writer [Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald]
(Attributed)

No actual citation found. Also often attributed (also without citation) to Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth -- “Table-Talk”

Dave — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 15:02:45 +0000

The difference between a man of genius seen in his works and in person, is like that of a lighthouse seen by night and by day, — in the one case only a great fiery brain, in the other only a white tower.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) American poet
“Table-Talk”
(Source)

De Botton, Alain -- The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, ch. 4 (2009)

Dave — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 15:49:50 +0000

Most of us stand poised at the edge of brilliance, haunted by the knowledge of our proximity, yet still demonstrably on the wrong side of the line, our dealings with reality undermined by a range of minor yet critical psychological flaws (a little too much optimism, an unprocessed rebelliousness, a fatal impatience or sentimentality). We are like an exquisite high-speed aircraft which for lack of a tiny part is left stranded beside the runway, rendered slower than a tractor or bicycle.

Alain de Botton (b. 1969) Swiss-British author
The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, ch. 4 (2009)
(Source)

Richardson, James -- Vectors: Aphorisms and Ten-Second Essays (2001)

Dave — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 13:00:35 +0000

Every life is allocated one hundred seconds of genius. They might be enough, if we could just be sure which ones they are.

James Richardson (b. 1950) American poet
Vectors: Aphorisms and Ten-Second Essays (2001)

Huxley, Aldous -- (Attributed)

Dave — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:27:55 +0000

To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.

Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) English novelist, essayist and critic
(Attributed)

In Reader's Digest (1934).

Aristotle -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

There is no great genius without a touch of madness.

[Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae fuit.]

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
(Attributed)

Attributed to Aristotle in Seneca the Younger, "On Tranquility of Mind [De Tranquillitate Animi]" (17.10) (c. AD 60). (Source (Latin)).

Alternate translations:

"There is no great genius without a mixture of madness." [Example (1851)]
"No great genius was without a mixture of insanity." [tr. Langsdorf (1900)]
"No great genius has ever been without a touch of insanity." [tr. Stewart (1900), "On Peace of Mind"]
"No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness." [Example (1906)]
"No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness." [tr. Basore (1932)]
"No great genius has ever existed without a dash of lunacy." [tr. Davie (2007)]
"There was never any great genius without a tincture of insanity." [tr. @sentantiq (2018)]
"There was never a genius without a tincture of madness."
"No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness."

This quotation as such is not found in surviving Aristotle. It may either represent something from Aristotle that has been lost since Seneca, or else Seneca fabricating a quote, quoting something spurious, or paraphrasing something Aristotle did write, e.g., his comments about madness/melancholy and poets/prominent talents (here and here). See also the Pseudo-Aristotle, Problemata, Book 30, ch. 1:

Why is it that all those who have become eminent in philosophy or politics or poetry or the arts are clearly of an atrabilious temperament, and some of them to such an extent as to be affected by diseases caused by black bile, as is said to have happened to Heracles among the heroes? [tr. Forster (1927)]

Gibbon, Edward -- Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 5, ch. 50 (1788)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius.

Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) English historian
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 5, ch. 50 (1788)
(Source)

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth -- Kavanaugh: A Tale, ch. 13 (1849)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

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

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) American poet
Kavanaugh: A Tale, ch. 13 (1849)
(Source)

Watterson, Bill -- Calvin and Hobbes (1993-09-07)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

CALVIN: I’m a genius, but I’m a misunderstood genius.
HOBBES: What’s misunderstood about you?
CALVIN: Nobody thinks I’m a genius.

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1993-09-07)
(Source)

Watterson, Bill -- Calvin and Hobbes (1989-07-15)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

CALVIN: People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don’t realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1989-07-15)
(Source)