At fifteen, beauty and talent do not exist; there can only be promise of the coming woman.
The visionary lies to himself, the liar only to others.
Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
Excellence is not a destination; it is a continuous journey that never ends.
The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.
Talent is nothing if it's not controlled, harnessed and disciplined.
I find out what the world needs. Then, I go ahead and invent it.
Talent is that which is in a man's power; genius is that in whose power a man is.
Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.
Intuition is the clear conception of the whole at once.
Genius is another word for magic, and the whole point of magic is that it is inexplicable.
Genius has no country. It blossoms everywhere. Genius is like the light, the air. It is the heritage of all.
Einstein was a giant. His head was in the clouds, but his feet were on the ground. Those of us who are not so tall have to choose!
Good sense travels on the well-worn paths; genius, never. And that is why the crowd, not altogether without reason, is so ready to treat great men as lunatics.
Genius sees the answer before the question.
Genius is one of the many forms of insanity.
A genius is a genius, regardless of the number of morons who belong to the same race - and a moron is a moron, regardless of the number of geniuses who share his racial origin.
Passion is the genesis of genius.
Talent is only the starting point.
Genius is the ability to look at things simply.
Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow that talent to dark place where it leads.
We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. But it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own talents.
It is a very rare thing for a man of talent to succeed by his talent.
In Mozart and Salieri we see the contrast between the genius which does what it must and the talent which does what it can.
The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.
Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.
Common sense is genius dressed up in work clothes.
Don't tell a man how to do a thing. Tell him what you want done, and he'll surprise you with his ingenuity.
Genius [...] has been defined as a supreme capacity for taking trouble. [...] It might be more fitly described as a supreme capacity for getting its possessors into trouble of all kinds and keeping them therein so long as the genius remains.
There is no substitute for talent. Industry and all the virtues are of no avail.
Every great man nowadays has his disciples, and it is always Judas who writes his biography.
Great talents are the most lovely and often the most dangerous fruits on the tree of humanity. They hang upon the most slender twigs that are easily snapped off.
No man is truly great who is great only in his lifetime. The test of greatness is the page of history.
All the works of man have their origin in creative fantasy.
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
Invention is the talent of youth, and judgment of age.
Genius lasts longer than beauty.
It is a fine thing to have ability, but the ability to discover ability in others is the true test.
The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.
Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.
Only great men have great faults.
Genius is the ability to see things invisible, to manipulate things intangible, to paint things that have no features.
The price of greatness is responsibility.
Genius begins great works; labor alone finishes them.
Genius without education is like silver in the mine.
The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.
Talent hits a target no-one else can hit; genius hits targets no-one else can see.
