Wednesday, February 4, 2009

February 4: "Genius, a Secret to Itself" (Vol. 25, pp. 319-327)

On this day, the English author and social critic Thomas Carlyle died. Here he offers an essay on intelligence and posits the theory that "genius is ever a secret to itself" and that "the healthy know not of their health, but only the sick."

In other words, true intelligence just is. Only an august few possess it, and great minds are generally unconscious of their tremendous mental abilities.

No comments: