The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Crack-Up”, Esquire Magazine (February 1936)
Geniuses are like thunderstorms. They go against the wind, terrify people, cleanse the air.
Soren Kierkegaard (Danish Philosopher – 19th Century)
To see things in the seed, that is genius.
Lao-tzu (Chinese philosopher – 5th – 4th Century B.C.)
There was never a genius without a tincture of madness.
Aristotle (Greek Philosopher – 4th Century B.C.)
And my favorite:
A genius is one who can do anything except make a living.
Joey Adams (Comedian)
An Iconoclastic Orthodoxy 