“Like all young men I set out to be a genius, but mercifully laughter intervened.”

— Lawrence Durrell, The Alexandria Quartet

The Alexandria Quartet (1957–1960), Clea (1960)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Nov. 2, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Like all young men I set out to be a genius, but mercifully laughter intervened." by Lawrence Durrell?

Lawrence Durrell photo

Lawrence Durrell52

British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer 1912–1990

Related quotes

“But genius looks forward: the eyes of men are set in his forehead, not in his hindhead: man hopes: genius creates.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet

1830s, The American Scholar http://www.emersoncentral.com/amscholar.htm (1837)

“There is a kind of laughter that sickens the soul. Laughter when it is out of control: when it screams and stamps its feet, and sets the bells jangling in the next town. Laughter in all its ignorance and cruelty. Laughter with the seed of Satan in it. It tramples upon shrines; the belly-roarer. It roars, it yells, it is delirious: and yet it is as cold as ice. It has no humour. It is naked noise and naked malice.”

Mervyn Peake book Boy in Darkness

"Boy in Darkness," Sometime, Never (1956)

“Like all young men, you greatly exaggerate the difference between one young woman and another.”

George Bernard Shaw Major Barbara

Source: Major Barbara

“Of course, like all young men, I tried to be as unhappy as I could — a kind of Hamlet and Raskolnikov rolled into one.”

Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, and a key figure in Spanish language literature

Autobiographical Notes (1970)

“It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious young men and women.”

Louisa May Alcott book Little Women

Source: Little Women (1868), Ch. 22 : Artistic Attempts

“I was behaving, just like I promised, but fate intervened.”

Katherine Paterson Preacher's Boy

Source: Preacher's Boy

“I sometimes think the Labour Party is like a pub where the mild is running out. If someone doesn't do something soon, all that's left will be bitter. (Laughter). And all that's bitter will be Left.”

Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British stateswoman and politician

Speech to the Conservative Party Conference (10 October 1975) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102777 <br class="br">Leader of the Opposition

“There's nothing wrong with being a genius who can fascinate the young. Rather, there's something wrong with the young who can't be fascinated by a genius.”

Julian Barnes book The Sense of an Ending

Source: The Sense of an Ending

“I think all young women are cursed with a streak of unrelenting foolishness, and all young men are cursed with a streak of absolute stupidity.”

Neal Shusterman book Scythe

Source: Scythe

“Genius is talent set on fire by courage.”

Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933) American diplomat

Related topics