--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The true genius shudders at…" description: "\"The true genius shudders at incompleteness - and usually prefers silence to saying something which is not everything it should be.\" — Edgar Allan Poe" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/edgar-allan-poe-315_genius_the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompletene_3170121.jpg" --- # The true genius shudders at incompleteness - and usually… ![“The true genius shudders at incompleteness - and usually prefers silence to saying something which is not everything it should be.” quote by Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/edgar-allan-poe-315_genius_the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompletene_3170121.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/edgar-allan-poe-315_genius_the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompletene_3170121.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/edgar-allan-poe-315_genius_the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompletene_3170121.jpg) > “The true genius shudders at incompleteness - and usually prefers silence to saying something which is not everything it should be.” [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Recognizing limits of knowledge leads to humility and restraint in speech. **In simple terms:** Know when to stay silent. Key Takeaway Speak only when you can be complete. Themes humility communication knowledge Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - public speaking - writing - teaching - debates - media interviews Key Concepts epistemic humility self‑censorship Questions to Reflect On - When have you spoken without full understanding? - What benefits arise from listening more? A Different Perspective Silence may for opportunities to contribute useful insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Genius Shudders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius-shudders-2438533/) [Incompleteness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incompleteness/) [Incompleteness Usually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incompleteness-usually-5766609/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Prefers Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prefers-silence-5766610/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Shudders Incompleteness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shudders-incompleteness-2438534/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [True genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-genius/) ## Related quotes > [The true genius shudders at incompleteness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompleteness/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“The true genius shudders at incompleteness — imperfection — and usually prefers silence to saying the something which is not everything that should be said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompleteness-imperfection-and-usually/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Dark Souls is in some ways an incomplete game, and I like to think that it has been completed by players, by their discoveries,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hidetaka-miyazaki/dark-souls-is-in-some-ways-an-incomplete-game-and-i-like-to-think/) [Hidetaka Miyazaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hidetaka-miyazaki/) > [ ...Bliss is not something to be got. On the other hand you are always Bliss. This desire \[for Bliss\] is born of the sense… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/bliss-is-not-something-to-be-got-on-the-other-hand-you-are-always/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [This superficial blurring has something to do with the incapacity I have just mentioned. I can make no statement about reality clearer than my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/this-superficial-blurring-has-something-to-do-with-the-incapacity-i/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [The biography of a writer - or even the autobiography - will always have this incompleteness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul/the-biography-of-a-writer-or-even-the-autobiography-will-always-have/) [V. S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul/) > [“Egoism is itself incompleteness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/egoism-is-itself-incompleteness/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [For me, there's the certain focus points that come out, which could reference a song or a pop disco, or something really abstract. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-tompkins/for-me-there-s-the-certain-focus-points-that-come-out-which-could/) [Sue Tompkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-tompkins/) > [ “Interesting-sounding, supposed applications of the incompleteness theorem \[here earlier taken explicitly to refer to the incompleteness theorems as a whole\] outside mathematics, therefore, often… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torkel-franz/interesting-sounding-supposed-applications-of-the-incompleteness/) [Torkel Franz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torkel-franz/) > [How wrong it is to use God as a stop-gap for the incompleteness of our knowledge. . . . We are to find God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/how-wrong-it-is-to-use-god-as-a-stop-gap-for-the-incompleteness-of/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [Every part is disposed to unite with the whole, that it may thereby escape from its own incompleteness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/every-part-is-disposed-to-unite-with-the-whole-that-it-may-thereby/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [In whatever you do, if you leave a sense of incompleteness, then Creation cannot resent you, ghosts and spirits cannot harm you. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zicheng-hong/in-whatever-you-do-if-you-leave-a-sense-of-incompleteness-then/) [Zicheng Hong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zicheng-hong/) > [Our emotional life maps our incompleteness: A creature without any needs would never have reasons for fear, or grief, or hope, or anger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-c-nussbaum/our-emotional-life-maps-our-incompleteness-a-creature-without-any/) [Martha C. Nussbaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-c-nussbaum/) > [Today I begin to understand what love must be, if it exists. . . . When we are parted, we each feel the lack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aroha-janet/today-i-begin-to-understand-what-love-must-be-if-it-exists-when-we/) [Aroha Janet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aroha-janet/) > [“I am afraid I am going to drift into fiction, truthful but incomplete, for lack of some details which I cannot conjure up today…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonora-carrington/i-am-afraid-i-am-going-to-drift-into-fiction-truthful-but-incomplete/) [Leonora Carrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonora-carrington/) ## More by Edgar Allan Poe > [“From childhood’s hour I have not been As others were—I have not seen As others saw—I could not bring My passions from a common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/from-childhood-s-hour-i-have-not-been-as-others-were-i-have-not-seen/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [There is no passion in nature so demoniacally impatient, as that of him who, shuddering upon the edge of a precipice, thus meditates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/there-is-no-passion-in-nature-so-demoniacally-impatient-as-that-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [To vilify a great man is the readiest way in which a little man can himself attain greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/to-vilify-a-great-man-is-the-readiest-way-in-which-a-little-man-can/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“A skillful literary artist has constructed a tale. If wise, he has not fashioned his thoughts to accommodate his incidents; but having conceived, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/a-skillful-literary-artist-has-constructed-a-tale-if-wise-he-has-not/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“For eyes we have no models in the remotely antique.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/for-eyes-we-have-no-models-in-the-remotely-antique/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/during-the-whole-of-a-dull-dark-and-soundless-day-in-the-autumn-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/those-who-dream-by-day-are-cognizant-of-many-things-that-escape-those/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“I have said that the sole effect of my somewhat childish experiment—that of looking down within the tarn—had been to deepen the first singular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/i-have-said-that-the-sole-effect-of-my-somewhat-childish-experiment/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [And all my days are trances, And all my nightly dreams Are where thy dark eye glances, And where thy footstep gleams-- In what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/and-all-my-days-are-trances-and-all-my-nightly-dreams-are-where-thy/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“Other friends have flown before — On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.” Quoth the raven, “Nevermore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/other-friends-have-flown-before-on-the-morrow-he-will-leave-me-as-my/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“To the right and left, as far as the eye could reach, there lay outstretched, like ramparts of the world, lines of horridly black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/to-the-right-and-left-as-far-as-the-eye-could-reach-there-lay/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Men die nightly in their beds, wringing the hands of ghostly confessors ... on account of the hideousness of mysteries which will not suffer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/men-die-nightly-in-their-beds-wringing-the-hands-of-ghostly/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [And the Raven, never flitting, Still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas Just above my chamber door; And his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/and-the-raven-never-flitting-still-is-sitting-still-is-sitting-on-the/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [I was forced to fall back upon the unsatisfactory conclusion, that while, beyond doubt, there are combinations of very simple natural objects which have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/i-was-forced-to-fall-back-upon-the-unsatisfactory-conclusion-that/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise but i feel the bright…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/for-the-moon-never-beams-without-bringing-me-dreams-of-the-beautiful/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) [Explore all 615 Edgar Allan Poe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) ## More Genius quotes > [“If people fully understand you, they will think of you as a normal, if they half understand you, will think of you as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/if-people-fully-understand-you-they-will-think-of-you-as-a-normal-if/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Woman, in short, has an unconscious life, man a conscious life, and the genius the most conscious life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-weininger/woman-in-short-has-an-unconscious-life-man-a-conscious-life-and-the/) [Otto Weininger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-weininger/) > [ Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then \[these?\],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in-england-in-1624-and-in-this/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The truth is I've just never had any kind of plan at all for my career, which is probably not a very flattering thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ty-burrell/the-truth-is-i-ve-just-never-had-any-kind-of-plan-at-all-for-my/) [Ty Burrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ty-burrell/) > [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [I have no physical genius about me. I can't dribble a ball and run at the same time, I can't do lay-ups - I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-mullins/i-have-no-physical-genius-about-me-i-can-t-dribble-a-ball-and-run-at/) [Rich Mullins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-mullins/) > [I have known many chess players, but among them there has been only one genius - Capablanca!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emanuel-lasker/i-have-known-many-chess-players-but-among-them-there-has-been-only/) [Emanuel Lasker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emanuel-lasker/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius; and the feminine situation has up to the present rendered this becoming practically impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/one-is-not-born-a-genius-one-becomes-a-genius-and-the-feminine/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [The beginning of genius is being scared shitless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-ferdinand-celine/the-beginning-of-genius-is-being-scared-shitless/) [Louis-Ferdinand Celine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-ferdinand-celine/) > [Treason implies responsibility for something, control over something, influence upon something, knowledge of something. Treason in our time is a proof of genius. Why,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/treason-implies-responsibility-for-something-control-over-something/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/mediocrity-knows-nothing-higher-than-itself-but-talent-instantly/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [With the proper training, I could've been an evil genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/with-the-proper-training-i-could-ve-been-an-evil-genius/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [Never try to judge any one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajat-dogra/never-try-to-judge-any-one/) [Rajat Dogra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajat-dogra/) > [“genius is a path that we can all take and derive much benefit, happiness, fulfillment, and success from...not a genetic windfall or divine gift.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-patrick/genius-is-a-path-that-we-can-all-take-and-derive-much-benefit/) [Sean Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-patrick/) [Browse all 5,125 Genius quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The true genius shudders at incompleteness - and usually prefers silence to saying something which is not everything it should be.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edgar Allan Poe" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompleteness-and-usually-prefers/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Genius" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompleteness-and-usually-prefers/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/edgar-allan-poe-315_genius_the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompletene_3170121.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/edgar-allan-poe-315_genius_the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompletene_3170121.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/edgar-allan-poe-315_genius_the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompletene_3170121.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The true genius shudders at incompleteness - and usually prefers silence to saying something which is not…” — Edgar Allan Poe", "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": "Edgar Allan Poe", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The true genius shudders at incompleteness...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompleteness-and-usually-prefers/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompleteness-and-usually-prefers/#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 } } ] } ```