--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Shakespeare was not a genius. He was…" description: "\"“Shakespeare was not a genius. He was, without the distant shadow of a doubt, the most wonderful writer who ever breathed. But not a genius. No angels ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/mark-forsyth-19782_genius_shakespeare-was-not-a-genius-he-was-with_845635.jpg" --- # Shakespeare was not a genius. He was, without the distant… ![“Shakespeare was not a genius. He was, without the distant shadow of a doubt, the most wonderful writer who ever breathed. But not a genius. No angels handed him his lines, no fairies proofread for him. Instead, he learnt techniques, he learnt tricks, and he learnt them well. Genius,” quote by Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/mark-forsyth-19782_genius_shakespeare-was-not-a-genius-he-was-with_845635.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/mark-forsyth-19782_genius_shakespeare-was-not-a-genius-he-was-with_845635.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/mark-forsyth-19782_genius_shakespeare-was-not-a-genius-he-was-with_845635.jpg) > ““Shakespeare was not a genius. He was, without the distant shadow of a doubt, the most wonderful writer who ever breathed. But not a genius. No angels handed him his lines, no fairies proofread for him. Instead, he learnt techniques, he learnt tricks, and he learnt them well. Genius,”” [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Shakespeare mastered craft through study, not innate genius. **In simple terms:** Skill beats mythic talent. Key Takeaway Study techniques to improve writing. Themes craft learning mythbusting Mood instructive analytical Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - writing workshops - self‑education - creative practice Key Concepts literary technique skill acquisition Questions to Reflect On - What techniques can you adopt to enhance your writing? - How does disciplined practice compare to natural talent? A Different Perspective Talent alone isn’t enough without effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shakespeare/) ## Related quotes > [“When King Lear dies in Act V, do you know what Shakespeare has written? He’s written “He dies.” That’s all, nothing more. No fanfare,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dustin-hoffman/when-king-lear-dies-in-act-v-do-you-know-what-shakespeare-has-written/) [Dustin Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dustin-hoffman/) > [“When King Lear dies in Act V, do you know what Shakespeare has written? He's written "He dies." That's all, nothing more. No fanfare,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-weyn/when-king-lear-dies-in-act-v-do-you-know-what-shakespeare-has-written-2/) [Suzanne Weyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-weyn/) > [I think that Shakespeare is a s\*\*\*. Absolute s\*\*\*! He may have been a genius for his time, but I just can't relate to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-simmons/i-think-that-shakespeare-is-a-s-absolute-s-he-may-have-been-a-genius/) [Gene Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-simmons/) > [There have only been two authentic geniuses in the world, Willie Mays and Willie Shakespeare and I think you'd better put Shakespeare first, darling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tallulah-bankhead/there-have-only-been-two-authentic-geniuses-in-the-world-willie-mays/) [Tallulah Bankhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tallulah-bankhead/) > [This was Shakespeare's form ; Who walk'd in every path of human life, Felt every passion ; and to all mankind Doth now, will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-akenside/this-was-shakespeare-s-form-who-walk-d-in-every-path-of-human-life/) [Mark Akenside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-akenside/) > [Shakespeare put no children in his plays for a reason," Sir Godfrey muttered, glaring at Alf and Binnie. "You're forgetting the Little Prince," Polly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/shakespeare-put-no-children-in-his-plays-for-a-reason-sir-godfrey/) [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [“Nernst was a great admirer of Shakespeare, and it is said that in a conference concerned with naming units after appropriate persons, he proposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-partington/nernst-was-a-great-admirer-of-shakespeare-and-it-is-said-that-in-a/) J.R. Partington > [“The composition of Shakespeare is a forest, in which oaks extend in the air, interspersed sometimes with weeds and brambles, and sometimes giving shelting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-composition-of-shakespeare-is-a-forest-in-which-oaks-extend-in/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-robinson/shakespeare-s-hamlet-there-is-nothing-either-good-or-bad-but-thinking/) [Ken Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-robinson/) > [The difficulty with poetry is that it doesn't have the life that Shakespeare or Jane Austen have beyond the page. You can't make a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/the-difficulty-with-poetry-is-that-it-doesn-t-have-the-life-that/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [“It was wonderful flirting with him, all the razor-edged literary banter, like Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. A battle of wit,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wein/it-was-wonderful-flirting-with-him-all-the-razor-edged-literary/) [Elizabeth Wein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wein/) > [Anything well written with good language and clarity and honesty is worth doing. It comes out of the same tradition as Shakespeare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moriarty/anything-well-written-with-good-language-and-clarity-and-honesty-is/) [Michael Moriarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moriarty/) > [Its extremely dangerous to compare anyone else to Shakespeare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-spacey/its-extremely-dangerous-to-compare-anyone-else-to-shakespeare/) [Kevin Spacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-spacey/) > [“This was going to be worse than the time I table danced in the diner in high school!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-bryson/this-was-going-to-be-worse-than-the-time-i-table-danced-in-the-diner/) [Kathy Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-bryson/) > [It's like saying French shouldn't be taught because you don't understand it because it's new. Shakespeare is just like learning a new, exciting language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-barnett/it-s-like-saying-french-shouldn-t-be-taught-because-you-don-t/) [Samuel Barnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-barnett/) ## More by Mark Forsyth > [“Every dictionary contains a world. I open a book of thieves’ slang from Queen Anne’s reign and they have a hundred words for swords,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/every-dictionary-contains-a-world-i-open-a-book-of-thieves-slang-from/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [“Pot itself has nothing to do with pots and pans, but comes from the Mexican-Spanish word potiguaya, which means marijuana leaves. And marijuana is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/pot-itself-has-nothing-to-do-with-pots-and-pans-but-comes-from-the/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [“I had to go outside. I had to let the element of chance in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/i-had-to-go-outside-i-had-to-let-the-element-of-chance-in/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it was the sausage-maker who disposed of the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/curiosity-may-have-killed-the-cat-but-it-was-the-sausage-maker-who/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [Poetry is much more important than the truth, and, if you don't believe that, try using the two methods to get laid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/poetry-is-much-more-important-than-the-truth-and-if-you-don-t-believe/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [ “Wouldst like to con a glimmer with me this early black?’, which he \[Cab Calloway\] helpfully explains as ‘the proper way to ask a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/wouldst-like-to-con-a-glimmer-with-me-this-early-black-which-he-cab/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [“Love is nothing because those who do something for the love of it do it for nothing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/love-is-nothing-because-those-who-do-something-for-the-love-of-it-do/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [“Wamblecropt is the most exquisite word in the English language. Say it. Each syllable is intolerably beautiful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/wamblecropt-is-the-most-exquisite-word-in-the-english-language-say-it/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [“The glamour's off. Almost any question you ask can be answered. It's only the questions that you didn't know to ask that remain, dancing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/the-glamour-s-off-almost-any-question-you-ask-can-be-answered-it-s/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [“There's always a strange feeling you get when you come across one particular line by chance. It feels somehow significant. That's irrational of course,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/there-s-always-a-strange-feeling-you-get-when-you-come-across-one/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [“Oxygen was called flammable air for a while, but it didn't catch on.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/oxygen-was-called-flammable-air-for-a-while-but-it-didn-t-catch-on/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [But Shakespeare never drank coffee. Nor did Julius Caesar, or Socrates. Alexander the Great conquered half the world without even a café latte to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/but-shakespeare-never-drank-coffee-nor-did-julius-caesar-or-socrates/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [If you are to use Alexander Graham Bell’s product, which is to say the blower, you should, in all courtesy, use it as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/if-you-are-to-use-alexander-graham-bell-s-product-which-is-to-say-the/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [“It is, incidentally, a favour that e-books have done for the Good Bookshop: they have made books beautiful again. A few years ago, book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/it-is-incidentally-a-favour-that-e-books-have-done-for-the-good/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [So familiar are eggs to us, however, that in the eighteenth century they were referred to as cackling farts, on the basis that chickens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/so-familiar-are-eggs-to-us-however-that-in-the-eighteenth-century/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) [Explore all 32 Mark Forsyth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) ## 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": "“Shakespeare was not a genius. 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