--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A marvellous power of expression over…" description: "\"A marvellous power of expression over language often distinguishes genius; but Shakespeare in his phrases seems independent of the bonds of language as..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07a/george-edward-woodberry-13231_expression_a-marvellous-power-of-expression-over-la_3099430.png" --- # A marvellous power of expression over language often… ![“A marvellous power of expression over language often distinguishes genius; but Shakespeare in his phrases seems independent of the bonds of language as of the bonds of metre.” quote by George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07a/george-edward-woodberry-13231_expression_a-marvellous-power-of-expression-over-la_3099430.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07a/george-edward-woodberry-13231_expression_a-marvellous-power-of-expression-over-la_3099430.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07a/george-edward-woodberry-13231_expression_a-marvellous-power-of-expression-over-la_3099430.png) > “A marvellous power of expression over language often distinguishes genius; but Shakespeare in his phrases seems independent of the bonds of language as of the bonds of metre.” [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True genius transcends language, creating meaning beyond words and form. **In simple terms:** Genius goes beyond language limits. Key Takeaway Seek expression that breaks conventional bounds. Themes creativity language genius Mood reflective intellectual Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - poetry - experimental writing - cross‑cultural communication Key Concepts transcendence artistic freedom metre syntax Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to be independent of language? - How can we recognize such genius? A Different Perspective Risk of incomprehensibility for audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Marvellous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marvellous/) [Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shakespeare/) ## Related quotes > [The genius of Shakespeare was an innate university.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/the-genius-of-shakespeare-was-an-innate-university/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [How marvellous it is to enjoy Messi. No one can touch his numbers, and it is impossible for anyone to do what he has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-enrique/how-marvellous-it-is-to-enjoy-messi-no-one-can-touch-his-numbers-and/) [Luis Enrique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-enrique/) > [What was it that drew you back? My marvellous personality, I suppose? Or my sparkling conversation?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-was-it-that-drew-you-back-my-marvellous-personality-i-suppose-or/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everything... has to be resolved through rhythms. You're constantly massaging each form, trying to get it home, pushing further and further until these all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leland-bell/everything-has-to-be-resolved-through-rhythms-you-re-constantly/) Leland Bell > [Housman is one of my heroes and always has been. He was a detestable and miserable man. Arrogant, unspeakably lonely, cruel, and so on,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/housman-is-one-of-my-heroes-and-always-has-been-he-was-a-detestable/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [Our reverence for the nobility of manhood will not be lessened by the knowledge that man is in substance and in structure, one with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/our-reverence-for-the-nobility-of-manhood-will-not-be-lessened-by-the/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [ \[Friedrich\] Nietzsche said something marvellous, he said "Madness is not a consequence of uncertainty but of certainty", and this is fanaticism. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/friedrich-nietzsche-said-something-marvellous-he-said-madness-is-not/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [If only someone else could paint what I see, it would be marvellous, because then I wouldn't have to paint at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-giacometti/if-only-someone-else-could-paint-what-i-see-it-would-be-marvellous/) [Alberto Giacometti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-giacometti/) > [WOMAN Wonderful Outstanding Marvellous Adorable Nice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/woman-wonderful-outstanding-marvellous-adorable-nice/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [“Nothing like beautiful legs. 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Consequently when I am eighty I'll have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hokusai/at-seventy-three-i-learned-a-little-about-the-real-structure-of/) [Hokusai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hokusai/) > [No physiologist who calmly considers the question in connection with the general truths of his science, can long resist the conviction that different parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-physiologist-who-calmly-considers-the-question-in-connection-with/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Marvellous mercies and infinite love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/algernon-charles-swinburne/marvellous-mercies-and-infinite-love/) [Algernon Charles Swinburne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/algernon-charles-swinburne/) > [Rome, believe me, my friend, is like its own Monte Testaceo, Merelya marvellous mass of broken and castaway wine-pots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-hugh-clough/rome-believe-me-my-friend-is-like-its-own-monte-testaceo-merelya/) [Arthur Hugh Clough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-hugh-clough/) ## More by George Edward Woodberry > [One can re-create what was in the mind of a mathematician a thousand years ago, recapture the truth of the intellect wherever it may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/one-can-re-create-what-was-in-the-mind-of-a-mathematician-a-thousand/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > [Agitation is that part of our intellectual life where vitality results; there ideas are born, breed and bring forth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/agitation-is-that-part-of-our-intellectual-life-where-vitality/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > [Art has a double visage: it looks before and after. Romance is its forward-looking face. The germ of growth is in romanticism. Formalism, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/art-has-a-double-visage-it-looks-before-and-after-romance-is-its/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > [The sweetest roamer is a boy's young heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/the-sweetest-roamer-is-a-boy-s-young-heart/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > ["Old times" never come back and I suppose it's just as well. What comes back is a new morning every day in the year,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/old-times-never-come-back-and-i-suppose-it-s-just-as-well-what-comes/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > [Always begin anew with the day, just as nature does. It is one of the sensible things that nature does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/always-begin-anew-with-the-day-just-as-nature-does-it-is-one-of-the/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > [Shakespeare is, essentially, the emanation of the Renaissance. The overflow of his fame on the Continent in later years was but the sequel of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/shakespeare-is-essentially-the-emanation-of-the-renaissance-the/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > [You must find the ideas that have some promise in them... It is not enough to just have ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/you-must-find-the-ideas-that-have-some-promise-in-them-it-is-not/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > [The willingness to take risks is our grasp of faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/the-willingness-to-take-risks-is-our-grasp-of-faith/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > [Mankind is the grandest and surest artist of all, and history as it clarifies is, in pure fact, an artistic process, a creation in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/mankind-is-the-grandest-and-surest-artist-of-all-and-history-as-it/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > [The poet craves emotion, and feeds the fire that consumes him, and only under this condition is he baptized with creative power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/the-poet-craves-emotion-and-feeds-the-fire-that-consumes-him-and-only/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > [Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse. Murphy's First Corollary If you tell the boss you were late for work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/left-to-themselves-things-tend-to-go-from-bad-to-worse-murphy-s-first/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > [Genius is that in which the soul of a race bums at its brightest, revealing and preserving its vision; works of art are great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/genius-is-that-in-which-the-soul-of-a-race-bums-at-its-brightest/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > [To feel that one has a place in life solves half the problem of contentment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/to-feel-that-one-has-a-place-in-life-solves-half-the-problem-of/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > [Is there not an art, a music, and a stream of words that shalt be life, the acknowledged voice of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/is-there-not-an-art-a-music-and-a-stream-of-words-that-shalt-be-life/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) [Explore all 51 George Edward Woodberry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) ## More Expression quotes > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [Instead of asking a girl how she feels, try looking through her recently listened to songs. The lyrics are the answer to all your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/instead-of-asking-a-girl-how-she-feels-try-looking-through-her/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The concept of humanity is an especially useful ideological instrument of imperialist expansion, and in its ethical-humanitarian form it is a specific vehicle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schmitt/the-concept-of-humanity-is-an-especially-useful-ideological/) [Carl Schmitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schmitt/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Our fashion for us, it's an expression; first of all of life, I put all of myself in my fashion. Sometimes it's good, sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefano-gabbana/our-fashion-for-us-it-s-an-expression-first-of-all-of-life-i-put-all/) [Stefano Gabbana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefano-gabbana/) > [We can see nothing whatever of the soul unless it is visible in the expression of the countenance; one might call the faces at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/we-can-see-nothing-whatever-of-the-soul-unless-it-is-visible-in-the/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [Early experience shapes the structure and function of the brain. This reveals the fundamental way in which gene expression is determined by experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-j-siegel/early-experience-shapes-the-structure-and-function-of-the-brain-this/) [Daniel J. Siegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-j-siegel/) > [Singing has always seemed to me the most perfect means of expression. It is so spontaneous. And after singing, I think the violin. Since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/singing-has-always-seemed-to-me-the-most-perfect-means-of-expression/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [Every genuine expression of love grows out of a consistent and total surrender to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/every-genuine-expression-of-love-grows-out-of-a-consistent-and-total/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Nick looked vaguely homicidal, but that was sort of his default expression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-rees-brennan/nick-looked-vaguely-homicidal-but-that-was-sort-of-his-default/) [Sarah Rees Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-rees-brennan/) > [They are the gateway for our modern esthetic development, the prophets of the new time. They are most of all, the primitives of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/they-are-the-gateway-for-our-modern-esthetic-development-the-prophets/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) > [The mountain receives our expressions and becomes part of us; we imprint our memories upon it and trust it with out dearest divisions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-barcott/the-mountain-receives-our-expressions-and-becomes-part-of-us-we/) [Bruce Barcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-barcott/) > [In science, the most exciting expression isn’t ‘Eureka!’ It’s ‘Huh?’](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hawley/in-science-the-most-exciting-expression-isn-t-eureka-it-s-huh/) Michael Hawley > [A commitment to lifelong learning is a natural expression of the practice of living consciously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/a-commitment-to-lifelong-learning-is-a-natural-expression-of-the/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) [Browse all 5,024 Expression quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A marvellous power of expression over language often distinguishes genius; but Shakespeare in his phrases seems independent of the bonds of language as of the bonds of metre.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Edward Woodberry" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/a-marvellous-power-of-expression-over-language-often-distinguishes/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Expression" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/a-marvellous-power-of-expression-over-language-often-distinguishes/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07a/george-edward-woodberry-13231_expression_a-marvellous-power-of-expression-over-la_3099430.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07a/george-edward-woodberry-13231_expression_a-marvellous-power-of-expression-over-la_3099430.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07a/george-edward-woodberry-13231_expression_a-marvellous-power-of-expression-over-la_3099430.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A marvellous power of expression over language often distinguishes genius; but Shakespeare in his phrases…” — George Edward Woodberry", "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": "George Edward Woodberry", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A marvellous power of expression over...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/a-marvellous-power-of-expression-over-language-often-distinguishes/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/a-marvellous-power-of-expression-over-language-often-distinguishes/#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 } } ] } ```