--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The eye of genius has always a plaintive…" description: "\"The eye of genius has always a plaintive expression, and its natural language is pathos.\" — Lydia M. Child" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05c/lydia-m-child-9261_expression_the-eye-of-genius-has-always-a-plaintive_162083.png" --- # The eye of genius has always a plaintive expression, and… ![“The eye of genius has always a plaintive expression, and its natural language is pathos.” quote by Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05c/lydia-m-child-9261_expression_the-eye-of-genius-has-always-a-plaintive_162083.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05c/lydia-m-child-9261_expression_the-eye-of-genius-has-always-a-plaintive_162083.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05c/lydia-m-child-9261_expression_the-eye-of-genius-has-always-a-plaintive_162083.png) > “The eye of genius has always a plaintive expression, and its natural language is pathos.” [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A genius’s perspective often carries sorrow, and its expression conveys deep emotional resonance. **In simple terms:** Genius shows sorrowful expression. Key Takeaway Appreciate the emotional depth of insight. Themes genius emotion expression Mood reflective poetic Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - creative work - critical analysis - emotional intelligence Key Concepts philosophy artistry Questions to Reflect On - How does emotion influence creativity? - When does sorrow become a catalyst? A Different Perspective Sorrow may hinder clarity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Pathos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pathos/) ## Related quotes > [Humor is consistent with pathos, whilst wit is not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/humor-is-consistent-with-pathos-whilst-wit-is-not/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [From the onset of the 'Live-Read' series, we wanted to hit all the major writers and Woody Allen is simply one of the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-reitman/from-the-onset-of-the-live-read-series-we-wanted-to-hit-all-the-major/) [Jason Reitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-reitman/) > [In the tradition of Black Hawk Down, Malcolm MacPherson vividly brings to life this harrowing story of courage, pathos, and war at its grittiest.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-winik/in-the-tradition-of-black-hawk-down-malcolm-macpherson-vividly-brings/) [Jay Winik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-winik/) > [The pathos of man is that he hungers for personal fulfillment and for a sense of community with others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-saunders-redding/the-pathos-of-man-is-that-he-hungers-for-personal-fulfillment-and-for/) [Jay Saunders Redding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-saunders-redding/) > [All perfect things are saddening in effect. The autumn wood robed in its scarlet clothes, The matchless tinting on the royal rose Whose velvet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/all-perfect-things-are-saddening-in-effect-the-autumn-wood-robed-in/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [“Kant also identified idle desires with wishing and active desire with willing, and he seemed to think that one of the problems of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manfred-kuehn/kant-also-identified-idle-desires-with-wishing-and-active-desire-with/) Manfred Kuehn > [Maybe what life needs is a good soundtrack, especially during the long stretches when nothing interesting is being said. A soundtrack might dignify things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-hull/maybe-what-life-needs-is-a-good-soundtrack-especially-during-the-long/) [Jonathan Hull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-hull/) > [I didn't expect to feel pathos for the villains in our show. I feel quite moved in several of our episodes; I never realized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-lehman/i-didn-t-expect-to-feel-pathos-for-the-villains-in-our-show-i-feel/) [Kristin Lehman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-lehman/) > [“The fundamental basis by which the court’s decision might be made is, in itself, imperfect and subject to contradictions. There is very little consideration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/the-fundamental-basis-by-which-the-court-s-decision-might-be-made-is/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [There is a peculiar pathos in the extinction of a nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer-hulbert/there-is-a-peculiar-pathos-in-the-extinction-of-a-nation/) Homer Hulbert > [The sickly cultural pathos which the whole of France indulges in, that fetishism of the cultural heritage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/the-sickly-cultural-pathos-which-the-whole-of-france-indulges-in-that/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [I like to play characters that get to do it all - to have a bit of comedy here and a bit of pathos…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shannon/i-like-to-play-characters-that-get-to-do-it-all-to-have-a-bit-of/) [Michael Shannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shannon/) > [I like to weed out the people who aren't going to enjoy me straight off the bat. If you look at all my specials,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jefferies/i-like-to-weed-out-the-people-who-aren-t-going-to-enjoy-me-straight/) [Jim Jefferies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jefferies/) > [How can we manage to illuminate the pathos of our lives?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/how-can-we-manage-to-illuminate-the-pathos-of-our-lives/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [The real us is pure love, pure light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-angel-ruiz/the-real-us-is-pure-love-pure-light/) [Miguel Angel Ruiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-angel-ruiz/) ## More by Lydia M. Child > [Every human being has, like Socrates, an attendant spirit; and wise are they who obey its signals. If it does not always tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/every-human-being-has-like-socrates-an-attendant-spirit-and-wise-are/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [Happiness consists not in having much, but in wanting no more than you have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/happiness-consists-not-in-having-much-but-in-wanting-no-more-than-you/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [Home - that blessed word, which opens to the human heart the most perfect glimpse of Heaven, and helps to carry it thither, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/home-that-blessed-word-which-opens-to-the-human-heart-the-most/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [our republican ideas cannot be consistently carried out while women are excluded from any share in the government. ... Any class of human beings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/our-republican-ideas-cannot-be-consistently-carried-out-while-women/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [I do not know how the affair at Canterbury is generally considered; but I have heard individuals of all parties and all opinions speak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/i-do-not-know-how-the-affair-at-canterbury-is-generally-considered/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [To everything there is a bright side and a dark side; and I hold it to be unwise, unphilosophic, unkind to others, and unhealthy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/to-everything-there-is-a-bright-side-and-a-dark-side-and-i-hold-it-to/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [It is right noble to fight with wickedness and wrong; the mistake is in supposing that spiritual evil can be overcome by physical means.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/it-is-right-noble-to-fight-with-wickedness-and-wrong-the-mistake-is/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [Misfortune is never mournful to the soul that accepts it; for such do always see that every cloud is an angel's face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/misfortune-is-never-mournful-to-the-soul-that-accepts-it-for-such-do/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [The boughs of no two trees ever have the same arrangement. Nature always produces individuals; She never produces classes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/the-boughs-of-no-two-trees-ever-have-the-same-arrangement-nature/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [In the first place, the government ought not to be invested with power to control the affections, any more than the consciences of citizens.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/in-the-first-place-the-government-ought-not-to-be-invested-with-power/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [That a majority of women do not wish for any important change in their social and civil condition, merely proves that they are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/that-a-majority-of-women-do-not-wish-for-any-important-change-in/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [There was a time when all these things would have passed me by, like the flitting figures of a theatre, sufficient for the amusement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/there-was-a-time-when-all-these-things-would-have-passed-me-by-like/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [That man's best works should be such bungling imitations of Nature's infinite perfection, matters not much; but that he should make himself an imitation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/that-man-s-best-works-should-be-such-bungling-imitations-of-nature-s/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [If we really believed that those who are gone from us were as truly alive as ourselves, we could not invest the subject with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/if-we-really-believed-that-those-who-are-gone-from-us-were-as-truly/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [Misfortune is never mournful to the soul that accepts it; for such do always see that every cloud is an angel's face. Every man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/misfortune-is-never-mournful-to-the-soul-that-accepts-it-for-such-do-2/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) [Explore all 74 Lydia M. Child quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) ## 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. 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