Fyodor Dostoevsky Quotes

There was never a genius who was not thought a fool until he disclosed himself; whereas he is a fool then only.

Every inventor is a crackpot until his idea succeeds.

People have laughed at all great inventors and discoverers.

Good sense travels on the well-worn paths; genius, never. And that is why the crowd, not altogether without reason, is so ready to treat great men as lunatics.

Men of passion and vision are often seen as mad.

There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth.

It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.

Genius is insanity right up until it works.

No one was ever great without some portion of divine inspiration.

Most geniuses are weird.

I've always been controversial because I offer new ideas. For me to be controversial, I think this is positive.

Genius is a potential that lives within you and every other human being. You have many moments of genius in your lifetime. These are the times when you have a uniquely brilliant idea and implement it even if only you are aware of how fantastic it is.

To be great is to be misunderstood.

Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored.

The difference between being able to understand something and inventing it in the first place... is called genius.

Imagine if Steve Jobs or Thomas Edison or Albert Einstein were all alive 10, 20, 30 years before we know them to be alive; it would have advanced the world that much sooner.

A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.

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

Genius is never understood in its own time.

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

The innovator, however, must in the first place be discontented, he must doubt the value of what he is doing or question the accepted ways of doing it. And secondly, he must be prepared to take fresh paths, to venture into fields where he is by no means expert. This is true, at least, of major forms of innovation; they make it possible for other men to be expert, but are not themselves forms of expertise

Freedom is the right to question, and change the established way of doing things.…It is the understanding that allows us to recognize shortcomings and seek solutions. It is the right to put forth an idea, scoffed at by the experts, and watch it catch fire among the people. It is the right to dream-- to follow your dream, or stick to your conscience, even if you're the only one in a sea of doubters.

Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision. Their goals differed, but they all had this in common: that the step was first, the road new, the vision unborrowed, and the response they received--hatred. The great creators--the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors--stood alone against the men of their time. Every great new thought was opposed.

The man with a new idea is a crank until his idea succeeds.

The vast masterpieces of art, business, science, and humanity were not constructed by practical people.