--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Dali is like a man who hesitates between…" description: "\"Dali is like a man who hesitates between talent and genius, or, as one might once have said, between vice and virtue.\" — Andre Breton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/146/andr-breton-2478_genius_dali-is-like-a-man-who-hesitates-between_1395177.jpg" --- # Dali is like a man who hesitates between talent and… ![“Dali is like a man who hesitates between talent and genius, or, as one might once have said, between vice and virtue.” quote by Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/146/andr-breton-2478_genius_dali-is-like-a-man-who-hesitates-between_1395177.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/146/andr-breton-2478_genius_dali-is-like-a-man-who-hesitates-between_1395177.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/146/andr-breton-2478_genius_dali-is-like-a-man-who-hesitates-between_1395177.jpg) > “Dali is like a man who hesitates between talent and genius, or, as one might once have said, between vice and virtue.” [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He compares Dali to someone torn between ordinary talent and true genius, or between moral failings and virtues. **In simple terms:** Dali is caught between talent and genius, vice and virtue. Key Takeaway Recognize the tension between skill and greatness. Themes art creativity duality psychology Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical interpretive When to use this quote - Art criticism - creative process - personal development - psychological analysis - educational curricula Key Concepts Surrealism talent vs genius ethical ambiguity Questions to Reflect On - What defines the line between talent and genius? - Can vice and virtue coexist in art? A Different Perspective Dali’s work may be seen as purely genius without moral conflict. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dali/) [Dalí Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dal-like-1418177/) [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Hesitates Talent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hesitates-talent-4873534/) [Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man/) [Man Hesitates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-hesitates-1342250/) [Talent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talent/) [Vice Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vice-virtue-264513/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) [Who](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/who/) ## Related quotes > [From 17 to 21, I was obsessed by sport and art. In art, I loved the pre-Raphaelites and Rembrandt first. Then I discovered Salvador…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-browne/from-17-to-21-i-was-obsessed-by-sport-and-art-in-art-i-loved-the-pre/) [Anthony Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-browne/) > [“I didn't like Dali: now, like you, I do. Like you, I began to drink my Coke with a pinch of salt . Like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sachin-kundalkar/i-didn-t-like-dali-now-like-you-i-do-like-you-i-began-to-drink-my/) [Sachin Kundalkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sachin-kundalkar/) > [Trust the man who hesitates in his speech and is quick and steady in action, but beware of long arguments and long beards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/trust-the-man-who-hesitates-in-his-speech-and-is-quick-and-steady-in/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Afraid lest he be caught up in a net of words, tripped up, bewildered and so defeated-thrown aside-a man hesitates to write down his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/afraid-lest-he-be-caught-up-in-a-net-of-words-tripped-up-bewildered/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [“And your man?' He hesitates. 'Long dead too?' It is the most delicate way that can be contrived, to ask a man if he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/and-your-man-he-hesitates-long-dead-too-it-is-the-most-delicate-way/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [I've got a very wide taste in art. I like Russian icon painters. I like Salvador Dali. It's like music. Sometimes you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-webber/i-ve-got-a-very-wide-taste-in-art-i-like-russian-icon-painters-i-like/) [Peter Webber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-webber/) > [I was nervous. I mean, I'd met the Beatles, and Elvis, and everybody, but this was Salvador Dalí . This was like my history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-cooper/i-was-nervous-i-mean-i-d-met-the-beatles-and-elvis-and-everybody-but/) [Alice Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-cooper/) > [He that is good will infallibly become better, and he that is bad will as certainly become worse; for vice, virtue, and time are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/he-that-is-good-will-infallibly-become-better-and-he-that-is-bad-will/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [The mere abhorrence of vice is not a virtue at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bergen-evans/the-mere-abhorrence-of-vice-is-not-a-virtue-at-all/) [Bergen Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bergen-evans/) > [“Feeling important is a vice, not a virtue, however concealed as participation in something noble.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/feeling-important-is-a-vice-not-a-virtue-however-concealed-as/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [It takes a vice to check a vice, and virtue is the by-product of a stalemate between opposite vices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-takes-a-vice-to-check-a-vice-and-virtue-is-the-by-product-of-a/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Vice and virtue chiefly imply the relation of our actions to men in this world; sin and holiness rather imply their relation to God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/vice-and-virtue-chiefly-imply-the-relation-of-our-actions-to-men-in/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [“And, moreover, you need not for a moment to insinuate that the virtues have taken refuge in cottages and wholly abandoned slated houses. Let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/and-moreover-you-need-not-for-a-moment-to-insinuate-that-the-virtues/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [I prefer an interesting vice to a virtue that bores.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/i-prefer-an-interesting-vice-to-a-virtue-that-bores/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Happiness lies neither in vice nor in virtue; but in the manner we appreciate the one and the other, and the choice we make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/happiness-lies-neither-in-vice-nor-in-virtue-but-in-the-manner-we/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) ## More by Andre Breton > [Of all the arts in which the wise excel, nature's chief masterpiece is writing well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/of-all-the-arts-in-which-the-wise-excel-nature-s-chief-masterpiece-is/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Under his (Marc Chagall, ed.) sole impulse metaphor made its triumphal entry into modern painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/under-his-marc-chagall-ed-sole-impulse-metaphor-made-its-triumphal/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one proposes to express -- verbally, by means of the written word, or in any other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/psychic-automatism-in-its-pure-state-by-which-one-proposes-to-express/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [The art of Frida Kahlo is a ribbon around a bomb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/the-art-of-frida-kahlo-is-a-ribbon-around-a-bomb/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“Let us not mince words: The marvelous is always beautiful, anything marvelous is beauitful, in fact only the marvelous is beautiful”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/let-us-not-mince-words-the-marvelous-is-always-beautiful-anything/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“There has never been any forbidden fruit. Only temptation is divine. To feel the need to vary the object of this temptation, to replace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/there-has-never-been-any-forbidden-fruit-only-temptation-is-divine-to/) [André Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“It was really a star, a star you were heading toward. You can't fail to reach it. Hearing you speak, I felt that nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/it-was-really-a-star-a-star-you-were-heading-toward-you-can-t-fail-to/) [André Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“All my life my heart has yearned for a thing I cannot name.” andre breton”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/all-my-life-my-heart-has-yearned-for-a-thing-i-cannot-name-andre/) [andre breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“Unless you have been inside a sanitarium you do not know that madmen are made there, just as criminals are made in our reformatories.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/unless-you-have-been-inside-a-sanitarium-you-do-not-know-that-madmen/) [André Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [A game: say something. Close your eyes and say something. Anything, a number, a name. Like this (she closes her eyes): Two, two what?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/a-game-say-something-close-your-eyes-and-say-something-anything-a/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [...with the end of my breath, which is the beginning of yours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/with-the-end-of-my-breath-which-is-the-beginning-of-yours/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Past and future monopolize the poet’s sensory and intellectual faculties, detached from the immediate spectacle. These two philtres become utterly clear the moment one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/past-and-future-monopolize-the-poet-s-sensory-and-intellectual/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [If I place love above everything, it is because for me it is the most desperate, the most despairing state of affairs imaginable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/if-i-place-love-above-everything-it-is-because-for-me-it-is-the-most/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [I am the soul in limbo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/i-am-the-soul-in-limbo/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Surrealism will usher you into death, which is a secret society. It will glove your hand, burying therein the profound M with which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/surrealism-will-usher-you-into-death-which-is-a-secret-society-it/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) [Explore all 141 Andre Breton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) ## More Dali quotes > [ Salvador \[Dali\] was brought up in Spain, a country colored by the legends of Hannibal, El Greco, and Cervantes. I was brought up in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-thurber/salvador-dali-was-brought-up-in-spain-a-country-colored-by-the/) [James Thurber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-thurber/) > [“There was no sign of life round the domed emplacement of the Moonraker, and the concrete, already beginning to shimmer in the early morning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-fleming/there-was-no-sign-of-life-round-the-domed-emplacement-of-the/) [Ian Fleming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-fleming/) > [“People looked at me, shocked. I gave them a nice big smile. That's right, look what big teeth I have. I knew I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/people-looked-at-me-shocked-i-gave-them-a-nice-big-smile-that-s-right/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [I used to hang out with Salvador Dali a lot. He was such a nice man. I really liked his wife Gala, too. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-hall/i-used-to-hang-out-with-salvador-dali-a-lot-he-was-such-a-nice-man-i/) [Jerry Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-hall/) > [“A morte é uma brevíssima varanda.Dali se espreita o tempo como a águia se debruça no penhasco- em volta todo o espaço se pode…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mia-couto/a-morte-uma-brev-ssima-varanda-dali-se-espreita-o-tempo-como-a-guia/) [Mia Couto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mia-couto/) > [“Spain's past is a cut of meat turning green on the butcher's slab. When the war ended, people were forbidden to look back and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessie-burton/spain-s-past-is-a-cut-of-meat-turning-green-on-the-butcher-s-slab/) [Jessie Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessie-burton/) > [I have always been a fan of Salvador Dali, but Amrita Sher-Gil, who was an Indian-Hungarian painter, is another favourite. She was painting Indian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupi-kaur/i-have-always-been-a-fan-of-salvador-dali-but-amrita-sher-gil-who-was/) [Rupi Kaur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupi-kaur/) > [Sometimes you're quite fortunate, being on the stage, getting to meet people like Salvador Dali.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-ferry/sometimes-you-re-quite-fortunate-being-on-the-stage-getting-to-meet/) [Bryan Ferry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-ferry/) > [I never thought I'd be up against Salvador Dali and Roy Disney.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bud-luckey/i-never-thought-i-d-be-up-against-salvador-dali-and-roy-disney/) [Bud Luckey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bud-luckey/) > [“Like Salvador Dali’s paintings of watches melting in the sand, time wanders at its own curious pace whenever you’re on vacation in a foreign…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-nadel/like-salvador-dali-s-paintings-of-watches-melting-in-the-sand-time/) [Laurie Nadel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-nadel/) > [“My point is, I would never hurt you or your family.” I raised my chin at him. “If you tried to hurt my mother,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/my-point-is-i-would-never-hurt-you-or-your-family-i-raised-my-chin-at/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [“yes, i have dated Salvador Dali guy when i was a high school girl. he was a great lover. but i had to dump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiroko-sakai/yes-i-have-dated-salvador-dali-guy-when-i-was-a-high-school-girl-he/) [Hiroko Sakai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiroko-sakai/) > [Salvador Dali and fifty cents will get you a cup of clock melt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/salvador-dali-and-fifty-cents-will-get-you-a-cup-of-clock-melt/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [If I had a Salvador Dali painting, I would cuddle it to sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mac-miller/if-i-had-a-salvador-dali-painting-i-would-cuddle-it-to-sleep/) [Mac Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mac-miller/) > [I probably have 15 to 20 Dalis in the store. The secret to buying Dali - never buy one made after 1970.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-harrison/i-probably-have-15-to-20-dalis-in-the-store-the-secret-to-buying-dali/) [Rick Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-harrison/) [Browse all 47 Dali quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dali/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Dali is like a man who hesitates between talent and genius, or, as one might once have said, between vice and virtue.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Andre Breton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/dali-is-like-a-man-who-hesitates-between-talent-and-genius-or-as-one/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dali" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/dali-is-like-a-man-who-hesitates-between-talent-and-genius-or-as-one/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/146/andr-breton-2478_genius_dali-is-like-a-man-who-hesitates-between_1395177.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/146/andr-breton-2478_genius_dali-is-like-a-man-who-hesitates-between_1395177.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/146/andr-breton-2478_genius_dali-is-like-a-man-who-hesitates-between_1395177.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Dali is like a man who hesitates between talent and genius, or, as one might once have said, between vice…” — Andre Breton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Andre Breton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Dali is like a man who...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/dali-is-like-a-man-who-hesitates-between-talent-and-genius-or-as-one/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/dali-is-like-a-man-who-hesitates-between-talent-and-genius-or-as-one/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```