--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Even the people who have it do not…" description: "\"Even the people who have it do not definitely know what genius is.\" — Mary Hunter Austin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c70/mary-hunter-austin-16934_genius_even-the-people-who-have-it-do-not-defin_2996895.jpg" --- # Even the people who have it do not definitely know what… ![“Even the people who have it do not definitely know what genius is.” quote by Mary Hunter Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c70/mary-hunter-austin-16934_genius_even-the-people-who-have-it-do-not-defin_2996895.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c70/mary-hunter-austin-16934_genius_even-the-people-who-have-it-do-not-defin_2996895.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c70/mary-hunter-austin-16934_genius_even-the-people-who-have-it-do-not-defin_2996895.jpg) > “Even the people who have it do not definitely know what genius is.” [Mary Hunter Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even those who possess something may not truly understand its nature. **In simple terms:** Possession doesn’t guarantee understanding. Key Takeaway Seek deeper insight. Themes knowledge humility self‑awareness Mood curious humble Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - education - leadership - personal growth Key Concepts epistemology identity Questions to Reflect On - What do you think you truly understand? - How can you test your assumptions? A Different Perspective Assuming knowledge can lead to arrogance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [People will definitely know that my art has something to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiki-layne/people-will-definitely-know-that-my-art-has-something-to-say/) [KiKi Layne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiki-layne/) > [I don't fool myself; I know I'm not a genius... I have good ideas, but also many great partners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-owens/i-don-t-fool-myself-i-know-i-m-not-a-genius-i-have-good-ideas-but/) [Rick Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-owens/) > [Teams are not crazy. They definitely know what they're doing, and they know the guys they want to take out of the game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tavon-austin/teams-are-not-crazy-they-definitely-know-what-they-re-doing-and-they/) [Tavon Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tavon-austin/) > [I think everyone should definitely know they're not alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaitlyn-bristowe/i-think-everyone-should-definitely-know-they-re-not-alone/) [Kaitlyn Bristowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaitlyn-bristowe/) > [I definitely know that I play the part, however big or small, in the deaths of at least two people, Chris Farley and Phil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-dick/i-definitely-know-that-i-play-the-part-however-big-or-small-in-the/) [Andy Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-dick/) > [Takashi Miike is definitely one of my top five, you know?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flying-lotus/takashi-miike-is-definitely-one-of-my-top-five-you-know/) [Flying Lotus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flying-lotus/) > [We don't have to test our boundaries anymore. We definitely know what they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-origliasso/we-don-t-have-to-test-our-boundaries-anymore-we-definitely-know-what/) [Jessica Origliasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-origliasso/) > [I definitely know that love is the most powerful thing of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/i-definitely-know-that-love-is-the-most-powerful-thing-of-all/) [J. K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling-2/) > [“If you know that I am genius Then know that you made me genius Everyone don't accept me as genius Because they aren't genius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hasil-paudyal/if-you-know-that-i-am-genius-then-know-that-you-made-me-genius/) Hasil Paudyal > [“If the poet is not a real genius, I do not know what a genius is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/if-the-poet-is-not-a-real-genius-i-do-not-know-what-a-genius-is/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I never thought of myself as being a genius. I don't know what genius is. I think a far better expression is a retriever,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-graham/i-never-thought-of-myself-as-being-a-genius-i-don-t-know-what-genius/) [Martha Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-graham/) > [“Badasses know what they want, definitely know what they need, and don’t settle for anything less.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-ashley/badasses-know-what-they-want-definitely-know-what-they-need-and-don-t/) [Kristen Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-ashley/) > [You've got to invest in the world, you've got to read, you've got to go to art galleries, you've got to find out the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivienne-westwood/you-ve-got-to-invest-in-the-world-you-ve-got-to-read-you-ve-got-to-go/) [Vivienne Westwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivienne-westwood/) > [Obviously technology has become such a big presence in our lives and, I definitely know, in my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spike-jonze/obviously-technology-has-become-such-a-big-presence-in-our-lives-and/) [Spike Jonze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spike-jonze/) > [I definitely know that there's somebody looking out for me, because I could never do this alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/i-definitely-know-that-there-s-somebody-looking-out-for-me-because-i/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) ## More by Mary Hunter Austin > [Over the tops of it, beginning to dusk under a young white moon, trailed a wavering ghost of smoke, and at the end of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/over-the-tops-of-it-beginning-to-dusk-under-a-young-white-moon/) [Mary Hunter Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/) > [Genius . . . arises in the natural, aboriginal concern for the conscious unity of all phenomena.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/genius-arises-in-the-natural-aboriginal-concern-for-the-conscious/) [Mary Hunter Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/) > [Man is not himself only...He is all that he sees; all that flows to him from a thousand sources...He is the land, the lift…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/man-is-not-himself-only-he-is-all-that-he-sees-all-that-flows-to-him/) [Mary Hunter Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/) > [This is the sense of the desert hills, that there is room enough and time enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/this-is-the-sense-of-the-desert-hills-that-there-is-room-enough-and/) [Mary Hunter Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/) > [No man can be stronger than his destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/no-man-can-be-stronger-than-his-destiny/) [Mary Hunter Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/) > [The utmost the American novelist can hope for, if he hopes at all to see his work included in the literature of his time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/the-utmost-the-american-novelist-can-hope-for-if-he-hopes-at-all-to/) [Mary Hunter Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/) > [Man learned to resort to the dance when he felt helpless or fragmentary, when he felt dislocated in his universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/man-learned-to-resort-to-the-dance-when-he-felt-helpless-or/) [Mary Hunter Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/) > [Life set itself to new processions of seed-time and harvest, the skin newly turned to seasonal variations, the very blood humming to new altitudes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/life-set-itself-to-new-processions-of-seed-time-and-harvest-the-skin/) [Mary Hunter Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/) > [In the common esteem, not only are the only good aboriginals dead ones, but all aboriginals are either sacred or contemptible according to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/in-the-common-esteem-not-only-are-the-only-good-aboriginals-dead-ones/) [Mary Hunter Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/) > [All mountain streets have streams to thread them, or deep grooves where a stream might run. You would do well to avoid that range…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/all-mountain-streets-have-streams-to-thread-them-or-deep-grooves/) [Mary Hunter Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/) > [You have to beat out for yourself many mornings on the windy headlands the sense of the fact that you get the same rainbow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/you-have-to-beat-out-for-yourself-many-mornings-on-the-windy/) [Mary Hunter Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/) > [As I walk .. as I walk .. / The universe .. is walking with me .. / Beautifully .. it walks before me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/as-i-walk-as-i-walk-the-universe-is-walking-with-me-beautifully-it/) [Mary Hunter Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/) > [Man is a great blunderer going about in the woods, and there is no other except the bear makes so much noise. ... The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/man-is-a-great-blunderer-going-about-in-the-woods-and-there-is-no/) [Mary Hunter Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/) > [Of the first philosophers, then, most thought the principles which were of the nature of matter were the only principles of all things. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/of-the-first-philosophers-then-most-thought-the-principles-which-were/) [Mary Hunter Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/) > [I do not know who sings my songs / Before they are sung by me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/i-do-not-know-who-sings-my-songs-before-they-are-sung-by-me/) [Mary Hunter Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/) [Explore all 38 Mary Hunter Austin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/) ## 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": "Even the people who have it do not definitely know what genius is.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Hunter Austin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/even-the-people-who-have-it-do-not-definitely-know-what-genius-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Genius" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/even-the-people-who-have-it-do-not-definitely-know-what-genius-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c70/mary-hunter-austin-16934_genius_even-the-people-who-have-it-do-not-defin_2996895.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c70/mary-hunter-austin-16934_genius_even-the-people-who-have-it-do-not-defin_2996895.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c70/mary-hunter-austin-16934_genius_even-the-people-who-have-it-do-not-defin_2996895.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Even the people who have it do not definitely know what genius is.” — Mary Hunter Austin", "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": "Mary Hunter Austin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hunter-austin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Even the people who have it...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/even-the-people-who-have-it-do-not-definitely-know-what-genius-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hunter-austin/even-the-people-who-have-it-do-not-definitely-know-what-genius-is/#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 } } ] } ```