--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Genius at first is little more than a…" description: "\"Genius at first is little more than a great capacity for receiving discipline.\" — George Eliot" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbc/george-eliot-84_capacity_genius-at-first-is-little-more-than-a-gr_1015097.png" --- # Genius at first is little more than a great capacity for… ![“Genius at first is little more than a great capacity for receiving discipline.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbc/george-eliot-84_capacity_genius-at-first-is-little-more-than-a-gr_1015097.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbc/george-eliot-84_capacity_genius-at-first-is-little-more-than-a-gr_1015097.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbc/george-eliot-84_capacity_genius-at-first-is-little-more-than-a-gr_1015097.png) > “Genius at first is little more than a great capacity for receiving discipline.” [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Genius initially appears as a strong ability to absorb discipline and structure, forming a foundation for later brilliance. **In simple terms:** Discipline fuels early genius. Key Takeaway Cultivate disciplined habits to develop talent. Themes education discipline potential Mood inspirational analytical Type educational motivational When to use this quote - academic study - artistic practice - career development Key Concepts learning growth skill acquisition Questions to Reflect On - What disciplined practices nurture your talents? - How does structure shape creativity? A Different Perspective Discipline alone may not guarantee genius without passion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Capacity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capacity/) [Discipline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discipline/) [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Genius Little](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius-little-2228150/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Little Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-great-1769005/) [Receiving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/receiving/) [Receiving Discipline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/receiving-discipline-2228151/) ## Related quotes > [After all, the appeal to stop being yourself, even for a little while, is very great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/after-all-the-appeal-to-stop-being-yourself-even-for-a-little-while/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“I have such great love for you, little one. Such great love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-anderson/i-have-such-great-love-for-you-little-one-such-great-love/) [Catherine Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-anderson/) > [“To the good God nothing is little because He is so great and we so small- that is why He stoops down and takes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/to-the-good-god-nothing-is-little-because-he-is-so-great-and-we-so/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [I'm interested in little people. 'The little, great people' is how I would put it, because suffering expands people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/i-m-interested-in-little-people-the-little-great-people-is-how-i/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [ The little cannot bee great, unlesse he devoure many. \[The little cannot be great unless he devour many.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/the-little-cannot-bee-great-unlesse-he-devoure-many-the-little-cannot/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [Better a little which is well done, than a great deal imperfectly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/better-a-little-which-is-well-done-than-a-great-deal-imperfectly/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [If a little is great, and a lot is better, then way too much is just about right!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mae-west/if-a-little-is-great-and-a-lot-is-better-then-way-too-much-is-just/) [Mae West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mae-west/) > [The conformation of his mind was such that whatever was little seemed to him great, and whatever was great seemed to him little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/the-conformation-of-his-mind-was-such-that-whatever-was-little-seemed/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [“We grow by making little great changes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/we-grow-by-making-little-great-changes/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [Better to do a little well, then a great deal badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/better-to-do-a-little-well-then-a-great-deal-badly/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [If you add a little to a little and do this often, soon the little will become great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hesiod/if-you-add-a-little-to-a-little-and-do-this-often-soon-the-little/) [Hesiod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hesiod/) > [You can become a great creator or a little one as the intensity of your desire is little or great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-russell/you-can-become-a-great-creator-or-a-little-one-as-the-intensity-of/) [Walter Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-russell/) > [Good is the enemy of great. And that's one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-c-collins/good-is-the-enemy-of-great-and-that-s-one-of-the-key-reasons-why-we/) [James C. Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-c-collins/) > [Genius is the capacity for receiving and improving by discipline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/genius-is-the-capacity-for-receiving-and-improving-by-discipline/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [What destroys us most effectively is not a malign fate but our own capacity for self-deception and for degrading our own best self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-destroys-us-most-effectively-is-not-a-malign-fate-but-our-own/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## More by George Eliot > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Scepticismcan never be thoroughly applied, else life would come to a standstill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/scepticismcan-never-be-thoroughly-applied-else-life-would-come-to-a/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Under every guilty secret there is hidden a brood of guilty wishes, whose unwholesome infecting life is cherished by the darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/under-every-guilty-secret-there-is-hidden-a-brood-of-guilty-wishes/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-most-powerful-movement-of-feeling-with-a-liturgy-is-the-prayer/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Mr. Casaubon had never had a strong bodily frame, and his soul was sensitive without being enthusiastic: it was too languid to thrill out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/mr-casaubon-had-never-had-a-strong-bodily-frame-and-his-soul-was/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“... she took her husband's jokes and joviality as patiently as everything else, considering that "men would be so", and viewing the stronger sex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-took-her-husband-s-jokes-and-joviality-as-patiently-as-everything/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [What is opportunity to the man who can't use it? An unfecundated egg, which the waves of time wash away into nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-is-opportunity-to-the-man-who-can-t-use-it-an-unfecundated-egg/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/and-of-course-men-know-best-about-everything-except-what-women-know/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-let-the-wise-be-warned-against-too-great-readiness-at-explanation/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But any one watching keenly the stealthy convergence of human lots, sees a slow preparation of effects from one life on another, which tells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-any-one-watching-keenly-the-stealthy-convergence-of-human-lots/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Sane people did what their neighbours did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/sane-people-did-what-their-neighbours-did-so-that-if-any-lunatics/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [even those who call themselves 'intimate' know very little about each other - hardly ever know just how a sorrow is felt, and hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-those-who-call-themselves-intimate-know-very-little-about-each/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) [Explore all 1,492 George Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## More Capacity quotes > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [And you can't complain about kissing Emma Watson. Isn't that what everyone in the world wants to do? I've known Emma for a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-redmayne/and-you-can-t-complain-about-kissing-emma-watson-isn-t-that-what/) [Eddie Redmayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-redmayne/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [Man has an almost infinite capacity for taking things and people for granted and thereby missing out on the pleasure of being grateful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/man-has-an-almost-infinite-capacity-for-taking-things-and-people-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [I was only operating at about 80% of my capacity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-lomu/i-was-only-operating-at-about-80-of-my-capacity/) [Jonah Lomu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-lomu/) > [To preserve an unclouded capacity for the enjoyment of life is an unusual moral and psychological achievement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/to-preserve-an-unclouded-capacity-for-the-enjoyment-of-life-is-an/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) > [Assuming normal winter weather, we currently anticipate the coal markets to remain difficult through 2015; while we always strive to operate a full capacity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-craft/assuming-normal-winter-weather-we-currently-anticipate-the-coal/) [Joe Craft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-craft/) > [Disappointment contains an appointment for doing much better. High expectations mean your higher capacity and belief in abilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasneem-hameed/disappointment-contains-an-appointment-for-doing-much-better-high/) [Tasneem Hameed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tasneem-hameed/) > [For years mental health professionals taught people that they could be psychologically healthy without social support, that “unless you love yourself, no one else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-d-perry/for-years-mental-health-professionals-taught-people-that-they-could/) [Bruce D. 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