Courage is never to let your actions be influenced by your fears.
Arthur KoestlerRead
The principal mark of genius is not perfection but originality, the opening of new frontiers.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Genius is defined by originality rather than perfection.
Arthur Koestler emphasizes that true genius lies in the ability to innovate and create new ideas or avenues of thought, rather than merely achieving flawless outcomes. This highlights the importance of originality and exploration in intellectual and artistic pursuits, suggesting that breaking boundaries is a mark of brilliance.
Themes
GeniusOriginalityCreativityInnovationPerfection
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could inspire young artists in a creative workshop.
More from Arthur Koestler
All quotes βHistory knows no scruples and no hesitation. Inert and unnering flows towards her goal. History knows herway. She makes no mistakes.
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If one looks with a cold eye at the mess man has made of his history, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that he has been afflicted by some built-in mental disorder which drives him towards self-destruction. Murder within the species on an individual or collective scale is a phenomenon unknown in the whole animal kingdom, except for man, and a few varieties of ants and rats.
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Space-ships and time machines are no escape from the human condition. Let Othello subject Desdemona to a lie-detector test; his jealousy will still blind him to the evidence. Let Oedipus triumph over gravity; he won't triumph over his fate.
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The real achievement in discoveries... is seeing an analogy where no one saw one before... The essence of discovery is that unlikely marriage of cabbages and kings β of previously unrelated frames of reference or universes of discourse β whose union will solve the previously insoluble problem.
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In my youth I regarded the universe as an open book, printed in the language of equations, whereas now it appears to me as a text written in invisible ink, of which in our rare moments of grace we are able to decipher a small segment.
Arthur KoestlerRead
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When you accept what is, you are grateful for whatever situation arises.
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Her mind lives tidily, apart from cold and noise and pain. And bolts the door against her heart, out wailing in the rain.
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People will never know how hard it is to get information, especially if it's locked up behind official doors where, if politicians had their way, they'd stamp 'top secret' on the color of the walls.
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