Letter to his sister (18 May 1941), as quoted in Man Ray : American Artist (1988) by Neil Baldwin
Caxtoniana: Hints on Mental Culture (1862)
Source: Introduction to General Systems Thinking, 1975, p. 12; Cited in: Nawaz Sharif, Pakorn Adulbhan (1978) Systems models for decision making. p. 38
Source: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
“Genius is a power of the soul and that powers of the soul can be developed by everyone.”
Source: "Quotes", Notebooks and Lectures on the Bible and Other Religious Texts (2003), p. 8
“Talent is that which is in a man's power; genius is that in whose power a man is.”
Literary Essays, vol. II (1870–1890), Rousseau and the Sentimentalists
“Desperation is sometimes as powerful an inspirer as genius.”
Source: Books, Coningsby (1844), Endymion (1880), Ch. 8.
"A Dinner at Poplar Walk" (1833), later published as "Mr. Minns and his Cousin"
Context: There were two classes of created objects which he held in the deepest and most unmingled horror: they were, dogs and children. He was not unamiable, but he could at any time have viewed the execution of a dog, or the assassination of an infant, with the liveliest satisfaction. Their habits were at variance with his love of order; and his love of order, was as powerful as his love of life.
Awakening : Conversations with the Masters (2003), p. 24
Context: The genius of a composer is found in the notes of his music; but analyzing the notes will not reveal his genius. The poet's greatness is contained in his words; yet the study of his words will not disclose his inspiration. God reveals himself in creation; but scrutinize creation as minutely as you wish, you will not find God, any more than you will find the soul through careful examination of your body.
“His genius was such that he ended an epoch and began another - but one of unceasing war and misery”
Studies in Greek and Roman History, Alexander the Great and the Loneliness of Power, 1964 p. 204
Context: After fighting, scheming and murdering in pursuit of the secure tenure of absolute power, he found himself at last on a lonely pinnacle over an abyss, with no use for his power and security unattainable. His genius was such that he ended an epoch and began another - but one of unceasing war and misery, from which exhaustion produced an approach to order after two generations and peace at last under the Roman Empire. He himself never found peace. One is tempted to see him, in medieval terms, as the man who sold his soul to the Devil for power: the Devil kept his part of the bargain but ultimately claimed his own. But to the historian, prosaically such allegory, we must put it differently: to him, when he has done all the work - work that must be done, and done carefully - of analysing the play of faction and the system of government, Alexander illustrates with startling clarity the ultimate loneliness of supreme power.
