Jonathan Swift Quotes

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.

In the republic of mediocrity, genius is dangerous.

The world is always ready to receive talent with open arms. Very often it does not know what to do with genius.

Geniuses always think it's easier than we make it out to be.

The principle mark of genius is not perfection but originality, the opening of new frontiers.

The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius.

Genius does not care much for a set of explicit regulations, but that does not mean that genius is lawless.

The persecution of genius fosters its influence.

A man of genius has a right to any mode of expression.

Genius is rarely able to give any account of its own processes.

Sometimes, unfortunately, hatred is more powerful than progress.

Most geniuses are weird.

The more original something is, the more of a threat it seems until the people catch up with it. That happened with Thelonious Monk. It happened with anybody who is really original.

To be great is to be misunderstood.

Nature is the master of talents; genius is the master of nature.

No one can be profoundly original who does not avoid eccentricity.

Genius is essentially creative; it bears the stamp of the individual who possesses it.

Everyone is a genius at least once a year. The real geniuses simply have their bright ideas closer together.

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.

Talent perceives differences; genius, unity.

Genius is the ability to put into effect what is on your mind.

Mediocrity can talk, but it is for genius to observe.

Yes, I think I am a genius, but not a rebel.

Genius is more often found in a cracked pot than in a whole one.

People of humor are always in some degree people of genius.