--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The true genius shudders at…" description: "\"“The true genius shudders at incompleteness — imperfection — and usually prefers silence to saying the something which is not everything that should be..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c09/edgar-allan-poe-315_genius_the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompletene_575255.jpg" --- # The true genius shudders at incompleteness — imperfection… ![“The true genius shudders at incompleteness — imperfection — and usually prefers silence to saying the something which is not everything that should be said.” quote by Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c09/edgar-allan-poe-315_genius_the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompletene_575255.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c09/edgar-allan-poe-315_genius_the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompletene_575255.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c09/edgar-allan-poe-315_genius_the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompletene_575255.jpg) > ““The true genius shudders at incompleteness — imperfection — and usually prefers silence to saying the something which is not everything that should be said.”” [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. True creativity respects the limits of language; imperfection and incompleteness invite silence over forced expression. **In simple terms:** Perfection is unattainable; sometimes silence is wiser. Key Takeaway Seek authenticity, not completeness. Themes creativity imperfection silence Mood thoughtful introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing drafts - public speaking - art criticism - personal journaling Key Concepts aesthetic theory self‑censorship Questions to Reflect On - When should you speak and when stay silent? - How do you handle incomplete ideas? A Different Perspective Silence may be misinterpreted as lack of effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Imperfection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imperfection/) [Incompleteness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incompleteness/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [True genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-genius/) ## Related quotes > [The true genius shudders at incompleteness - and usually prefers silence to saying something which is not everything it should be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompleteness-and-usually-prefers/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [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/) > [I would never require anyone to read any book. That seems antithetical to why we read - which is to choose a book for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/i-would-never-require-anyone-to-read-any-book-that-seems-antithetical/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [Shallow are the souls that have forgotten how to shudder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/shallow-are-the-souls-that-have-forgotten-how-to-shudder/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [“I must rejoice beyond the bounds of time … though the world may shudder at my joy, and in its coarsness know not what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-van-ruysbroeck/i-must-rejoice-beyond-the-bounds-of-time-though-the-world-may-shudder/) Jan Van Ruysbroeck > [“shudder through the train as if some huge, ancient animal were waking itself from a long sleep.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/shudder-through-the-train-as-if-some-huge-ancient-animal-were-waking/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The shudder went all through him. Bones pressed me so close that his body ground into mine, jerking my head back with a thick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeaniene-frost/the-shudder-went-all-through-him-bones-pressed-me-so-close-that-his/) [Jeaniene Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeaniene-frost/) > [“I can’t be this close to you and have these clothes between us,” Cole said in her ear, giving her a full-body shudder. “Can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/layla-valentine/i-can-t-be-this-close-to-you-and-have-these-clothes-between-us-cole/) Layla Valentine > [No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/no-sooner-had-the-warm-liquid-mixed-with-the-crumbs-touched-my-palate/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When I hear the name 'Harry', I shudder inside and have a mini heart-attack. I am not fond of Harry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-hansen/when-i-hear-the-name-harry-i-shudder-inside-and-have-a-mini-heart/) [Kristin Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-hansen/) > [I shudder at the concept of a world tamed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-a-salvatore-2/i-shudder-at-the-concept-of-a-world-tamed/) [R. A. Salvatore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-a-salvatore-2/) > [We all would shudder if what we did, no matter what, in our 20s and early 30s were publicly displayed on a national stage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-famuyiwa/we-all-would-shudder-if-what-we-did-no-matter-what-in-our-20s-and/) [Rick Famuyiwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-famuyiwa/) > [Not without a shudder may the human hand reach into the mysterious urn of destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/not-without-a-shudder-may-the-human-hand-reach-into-the-mysterious/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [I shudder at the image they would piece together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-vadim/i-shudder-at-the-image-they-would-piece-together/) [Roger Vadim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-vadim/) > [“I love you, Peej. More than I can even begin to explain.” His voice was so low and husky it seemed to brush things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-dyllin/i-love-you-peej-more-than-i-can-even-begin-to-explain-his-voice-was/) [D.T. Dyllin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-dyllin/) ## 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 — imperfection — and usually prefers silence to saying the something which is not everything that should be said.”", "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-imperfection-and-usually/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Genius" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompleteness-imperfection-and-usually/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c09/edgar-allan-poe-315_genius_the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompletene_575255.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c09/edgar-allan-poe-315_genius_the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompletene_575255.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c09/edgar-allan-poe-315_genius_the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompletene_575255.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The true genius shudders at incompleteness — imperfection — and usually prefers silence to saying the…” — 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-imperfection-and-usually/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-true-genius-shudders-at-incompleteness-imperfection-and-usually/#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 } } ] } ```