I don't know what genius is. I've never really thought about it. But I like this description, by Willam Blake: Improvement makes straight roads
But the crooked roads without improvement
Are roads of genius It's from a poem entitled Proverbs of Hell. In the first stanza you'll read this delicious line:Prudence is a rich ugly old maid courted by Incapacity. Ain't that the truth. Conventional wisdom is often the myopic lean of the herd, too scared to deviate much. Don't want to make a mistake, you know.(I think "oops" may be the most powerful word in our vocabulary in its potential for change.) I also found this, and it makes sense to me. The genius, disturbed as he is, makes errors and wrong turns that the ordinary person avoids. Still, these madmen, "despising and overcoming obstacles which would have dismayed the cool and deliberate mind - hasten by whole centuries the unfolding of truth." Which says to me that anyone can be a genius - you just have to be inquisitive enough and impatient enough to travel unprepared where others won't.The word "genius" comes from the Latin word "genere," which means "to produce." "Generate" would also be a derivative word. So I'll take the liberty to suggest something... If we want to make a difference in life, the only way to get there is to seek out error and wrong turn, wherein we can unearth the "roads of genius." Incapacity? Not a chance. Action, man, action! Genius doesn't wait for others. It's too busy foraging, trampling the unknown underfoot in the excitement of fearless discovery. |
