--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Genius, like truth, has a shabby and…" description: "\"Genius, like truth, has a shabby and neglected mien.\" — Edward Dahlberg" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/edward-dahlberg-10740_genius_genius-like-truth-has-a-shabby-and-negle_1883945.png" --- # Genius, like truth, has a shabby and neglected mien. ![“Genius, like truth, has a shabby and neglected mien.” quote by Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/edward-dahlberg-10740_genius_genius-like-truth-has-a-shabby-and-negle_1883945.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/edward-dahlberg-10740_genius_genius-like-truth-has-a-shabby-and-negle_1883945.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/edward-dahlberg-10740_genius_genius-like-truth-has-a-shabby-and-negle_1883945.png) > “Genius, like truth, has a shabby and neglected mien.” [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Genius often appears unkempt and overlooked, much like truth, because brilliance can be ignored or misunderstood. **In simple terms:** Brilliance may look messy and be ignored. Key Takeaway Recognize value beyond appearances. Themes genius truth perception societal neglect beauty in flaws Mood contemplative melancholic Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - academic recognition - public acclaim - media spotlight - celebrity culture Key Concepts aesthetic of the overlooked philosophical humility creative authenticity Questions to Reflect On - How does society decide which truths to honor? - Can we cultivate appreciation for hidden brilliance? A Different Perspective Not all geniuses are acknowledged in their time. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Genius Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius-like-235570/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Like Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-truth-359525/) [Neglected](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neglected/) [Neglected Mien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neglected-mien-2679659/) [Shabby Neglected](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shabby-neglected-2679660/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth Shabby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-shabby-2679658/) ## Related quotes > [A genius is the one most like himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-genius-is-the-one-most-like-himself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“We are all born with genius. It's like our fairy godmother. 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A valued tormentor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truman-capote/talent-and-genius-as-well-is-like-a-grain-of-pearl-sand-shifting/) [Truman Capote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truman-capote/) > [alent is like the marksman who hits a target which others cannot reach; genius is like the marksman who hits a target, as far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/alent-is-like-the-marksman-who-hits-a-target-which-others-cannot/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Men of genius are like eagles, they live on what they kill, while men of talents are like crows, they live on what has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/men-of-genius-are-like-eagles-they-live-on-what-they-kill-while-men/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [Genius, like humanity, rusts for the want of use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/genius-like-humanity-rusts-for-the-want-of-use/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Genius, like a thunderstorm, comes up against the wind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/genius-like-a-thunderstorm-comes-up-against-the-wind/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [“...genius knows no country, genius sprouts anywhere, genius is like light, air. the patrimony of everybody, cosmopolitan like space, like life, like God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-rizal/genius-knows-no-country-genius-sprouts-anywhere-genius-is-like-light/) [José Rizal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-rizal/) > [“Genius is in you, but like a seed, you determine whether it dies or grows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/genius-is-in-you-but-like-a-seed-you-determine-whether-it-dies-or/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [Genius, like humanity, rusts for want of use.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/genius-like-humanity-rusts-for-want-of-use/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [With ordinary men the moments which are united in a close continuity out of the original discrete multiplicity are very few, and the course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-weininger/with-ordinary-men-the-moments-which-are-united-in-a-close-continuity/) [Otto Weininger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-weininger/) > [When you encounter a genius like Kleiber, it makes you look at the role afresh, even if it is one you have done for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mirella-freni/when-you-encounter-a-genius-like-kleiber-it-makes-you-look-at-the/) [Mirella Freni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mirella-freni/) > [In order to share one's true brilliance one initially has to risk looking like a fool: genius is like a wheel that spins so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/in-order-to-share-one-s-true-brilliance-one-initially-has-to-risk/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [Whatever you think can’t be done, somebody will come along and do it. A genius is the one most like himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thelonious-monk/whatever-you-think-can-t-be-done-somebody-will-come-along-and-do-it-a/) [Thelonious Monk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thelonious-monk/) ## More by Edward Dahlberg > [A painter can hang his pictures, but a writer can only hang himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/a-painter-can-hang-his-pictures-but-a-writer-can-only-hang-himself/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [I know sage, wormwood, and hyssop, but I can't smell character unless it stinks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/i-know-sage-wormwood-and-hyssop-but-i-can-t-smell-character-unless-it/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [Who has enough credit in this world to pay for his mistakes?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/who-has-enough-credit-in-this-world-to-pay-for-his-mistakes/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [The ruin of the human heart is self-interest, which the American merchant calls self-service. We have become a self-service populace, and all our specious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/the-ruin-of-the-human-heart-is-self-interest-which-the-american/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [Ambition is a Dead Sea fruit, and the greatest peril to the soul is that one is likely to get precisely what he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/ambition-is-a-dead-sea-fruit-and-the-greatest-peril-to-the-soul-is/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [The ancients understood the regulation of power better than the regulation of liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/the-ancients-understood-the-regulation-of-power-better-than-the/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [We are always talking about being together, and yet whatever we invent destroys the family, and makes us wild, touchless beasts feeding on technicolor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/we-are-always-talking-about-being-together-and-yet-whatever-we-invent/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [“Bosch is great because what he imagines in color can be translated into justice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/bosch-is-great-because-what-he-imagines-in-color-can-be-translated/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [Perhaps Samuel Johnson was a great man; he was certainly a drumbling one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/perhaps-samuel-johnson-was-a-great-man-he-was-certainly-a-drumbling/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [What is most appalling in an F. Scott Fitzgerald book is that it is peopleless fiction: Fitzgerald writes about spectral, muscledsuits; dresses, hats, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/what-is-most-appalling-in-an-f-scott-fitzgerald-book-is-that-it-is/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [Though man is the only beast that can write, he has small reason to be proud of it. When he utters something that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/though-man-is-the-only-beast-that-can-write-he-has-small-reason-to-be/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [“Nobody heard her tears; the heart is a fountain of weeping water which makes no noise in the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/nobody-heard-her-tears-the-heart-is-a-fountain-of-weeping-water-which/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [It is hideous and coarse to assume that we can do something for others-and it is vile not to endeavor to do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/it-is-hideous-and-coarse-to-assume-that-we-can-do-something-for/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [There is a strange and mighty race of people called the Americans who are rapidly becoming the coldest in the world because of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/there-is-a-strange-and-mighty-race-of-people-called-the-americans-who/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [Man is at the nadir of his stregth when the Earth, the seas, the mountains are not in him, for without them his soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/man-is-at-the-nadir-of-his-stregth-when-the-earth-the-seas-the/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) [Explore all 63 Edward Dahlberg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) ## 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": "Genius, like truth, has a shabby and neglected mien.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Dahlberg" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/genius-like-truth-has-a-shabby-and-neglected-mien/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Genius" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/genius-like-truth-has-a-shabby-and-neglected-mien/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/edward-dahlberg-10740_genius_genius-like-truth-has-a-shabby-and-negle_1883945.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/edward-dahlberg-10740_genius_genius-like-truth-has-a-shabby-and-negle_1883945.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/edward-dahlberg-10740_genius_genius-like-truth-has-a-shabby-and-negle_1883945.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Genius, like truth, has a shabby and neglected mien.” — Edward Dahlberg", "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": "Edward Dahlberg", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Genius, like truth, has a shabby...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/genius-like-truth-has-a-shabby-and-neglected-mien/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/genius-like-truth-has-a-shabby-and-neglected-mien/#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 } } ] } ```