--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ... Genius consisting neither in…" description: "\"“... Genius consisting neither in self-conceit nor in humilty, but in a power to making or do, not anything in general, but something in particular.”\" ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/691/george-eliot-84_eliot-george_genius-consisting-neither-in-self-concei_1592735.jpg" --- # ... Genius consisting neither in self-conceit nor in… ![“... Genius consisting neither in self-conceit nor in humilty, but in a power to making or do, not anything in general, but something in particular.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/691/george-eliot-84_eliot-george_genius-consisting-neither-in-self-concei_1592735.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/691/george-eliot-84_eliot-george_genius-consisting-neither-in-self-concei_1592735.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/691/george-eliot-84_eliot-george_genius-consisting-neither-in-self-concei_1592735.jpg) > ““... Genius consisting neither in self-conceit nor in humilty, but in a power to making or do, not anything in general, but something in particular.”” [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. True genius lies not in arrogance or excessive modesty, but in the ability to excel at a specific task or craft. **In simple terms:** Genius is skill in a particular area. Key Takeaway Focus on developing a unique talent. Themes talent humility focus Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career development - artistic creation - scientific research - leadership - education Key Concepts expertise specialization self-awareness Questions to Reflect On - What specific skill can you cultivate? - How does humility affect mastery? A Different Perspective May overlook broader perspective or teamwork. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Middlemarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middlemarch/) ## Related quotes > [“A really cultured woman, like a really cultured man, is all the simpler and the less obtrusive for her knowledge; it has made her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/a-really-cultured-woman-like-a-really-cultured-man-is-all-the-simpler/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But genius, and even great talent, springs less from seeds of intellect and social refinement superior to those of other people than from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/but-genius-and-even-great-talent-springs-less-from-seeds-of-intellect/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [To be infatuated with the power of one's own intellect is an accident which seldom happens but to those who are remarkable for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/to-be-infatuated-with-the-power-of-one-s-own-intellect-is-an-accident/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Whenever nature leaves a hole in a person's mind, she generally plasters it over with a thick coat of self-conceit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/whenever-nature-leaves-a-hole-in-a-person-s-mind-she-generally/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Self-conceit is the enemy of progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bion-of-borysthenes/self-conceit-is-the-enemy-of-progress/) [Bion of Borysthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bion-of-borysthenes/) > [But the conceit of one's self and the conceit of one's hobby are hardly more prolific of eccentricity than the conceit of one's money.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-percy-whipple/but-the-conceit-of-one-s-self-and-the-conceit-of-one-s-hobby-are/) [Edwin Percy Whipple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-percy-whipple/) > [The path of least resistance and least trouble is a mental rut already made. It requires troublesome work to undertake the alternation of old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-path-of-least-resistance-and-least-trouble-is-a-mental-rut-2/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“Self-conceit is a sentiment entirely incompatible with genuine sorrow, and it is so firmly engrafted on human nature that even the most profound sorrow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/self-conceit-is-a-sentiment-entirely-incompatible-with-genuine-sorrow/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“But, see, that kind of thinking only led to self-pity and that might be the quality I hated most in people. That and self-conceit.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/callie-harper/but-see-that-kind-of-thinking-only-led-to-self-pity-and-that-might-be/) [Callie Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/callie-harper/) > [The first sin in our universe was Lucifer's self conceit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-first-sin-in-our-universe-was-lucifer-s-self-conceit/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Self-conceit may lead to self destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/self-conceit-may-lead-to-self-destruction/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [We can bear to be deprived of everything but our self-conceit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/we-can-bear-to-be-deprived-of-everything-but-our-self-conceit/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [“...what man is capable of the insane self-conceit of believing that an eternity of himself would be tolerable even to himself? Those who try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/what-man-is-capable-of-the-insane-self-conceit-of-believing-that-an/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [I cannot avoid condemning all those who, from self-conceit have the pretension to imitate great artists of the past. If their powers of emotion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-georges-noverre/i-cannot-avoid-condemning-all-those-who-from-self-conceit-have-the/) [Jean-Georges Noverre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-georges-noverre/) > [Self-conceit is a weighty quality, and will sometimes bring down the scale when there is nothing else in it. It magnifies a fault beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-collier/self-conceit-is-a-weighty-quality-and-will-sometimes-bring-down-the/) [Jeremy Collier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-collier/) ## 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 Eliot-george quotes > [“A really cultured woman, like a really cultured man, is all the simpler and the less obtrusive for her knowledge; it has made her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/a-really-cultured-woman-like-a-really-cultured-man-is-all-the-simpler/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) Browse all 2 Eliot-george quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“... 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