--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People of genius do not excel in any…" description: "\"People of genius do not excel in any profession because they work in it, they work in it because they excel.\" — William Hazlitt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b27/william-hazlitt-326_career_people-of-genius-do-not-excel-in-any-pro_1458293.png" --- # People of genius do not excel in any profession because… ![“People of genius do not excel in any profession because they work in it, they work in it because they excel.” quote by William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b27/william-hazlitt-326_career_people-of-genius-do-not-excel-in-any-pro_1458293.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b27/william-hazlitt-326_career_people-of-genius-do-not-excel-in-any-pro_1458293.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b27/william-hazlitt-326_career_people-of-genius-do-not-excel-in-any-pro_1458293.png) > “People of genius do not excel in any profession because they work in it, they work in it because they excel.” [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Genius thrives when work aligns with natural talent, not merely by profession choice. **In simple terms:** Genius succeeds when work matches skill. Key Takeaway Seek work that fits your strengths. Themes talent work excellence Mood reflective motivational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - creative pursuits - education - personal development Key Concepts intrinsic motivation skill alignment Questions to Reflect On - Do you work in a field that matches your abilities? - How can you realign work with talent? A Different Perspective External pressures may force misaligned careers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Career](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/career/) [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Profession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profession/) ## Related quotes > [This is a grueling profession. Either you can't get work, or you can't get certain kinds of parts, or you get a part, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-kane/this-is-a-grueling-profession-either-you-can-t-get-work-or-you-can-t/) [Carol Kane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-kane/) > [Artists are people with a genius for finding a new answer, a new connection, or a new way of getting things done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/artists-are-people-with-a-genius-for-finding-a-new-answer-a-new/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [If you can be kind to people, you will be a genius in this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-can-be-kind-to-people-you-will-be-a-genius-in-this-world/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [An art form requires genius. People of genius are always troublemakers, meaning they start from scratch, demolish accepted norms, and rebuild a new world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-langlois/an-art-form-requires-genius-people-of-genius-are-always-troublemakers-2/) Henri Langlois > [“Some people have a genius for doing nothing and doing it assiduously”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-people-have-a-genius-for-doing-nothing-and-doing-it-assiduously/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Being a genius doesn’t make you smart, happy, or successful. In fact, sometimes the opposite. Studies have shown that people with genius-level I.Q.s are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-demille/being-a-genius-doesn-t-make-you-smart-happy-or-successful-in-fact/) [Nelson DeMille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-demille/) > [People of humor are always in some degree people of genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/people-of-humor-are-always-in-some-degree-people-of-genius/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [The thing that most people call 'genius' I do not believe in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-m-schwab/the-thing-that-most-people-call-genius-i-do-not-believe-in/) [Charles M. Schwab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-m-schwab/) > [Geniuses are people who dash off weird, wild, incomprehensible poems with astonishing facility, & then go & get booming drunk & sleep in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/geniuses-are-people-who-dash-off-weird-wild-incomprehensible-poems/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Some very dull and sad people have genius though the world may not count it as such; a genius for love, or for patience,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-isabella-thackeray-ritchie/some-very-dull-and-sad-people-have-genius-though-the-world-may-not/) Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie > [“Working really hard is what successful people do, and the genius of the culture formed in the rice paddies is that hard work gave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/working-really-hard-is-what-successful-people-do-and-the-genius-of/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [Few people can see genius in someone who has offended them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/few-people-can-see-genius-in-someone-who-has-offended-them/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [People call me a genius. I don't know much about geniuses. But I do believe that what I achieved was not just because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garfield-sobers/people-call-me-a-genius-i-don-t-know-much-about-geniuses-but-i-do/) [Garfield Sobers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garfield-sobers/) > [“The promise of a Multiplier is that they get twice the capacity, plus a growth dividend from their people as their genius expands under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-wiseman/the-promise-of-a-multiplier-is-that-they-get-twice-the-capacity-plus/) [Liz Wiseman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-wiseman/) > [The real people of genius were resolute workers not idle dreamers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/the-real-people-of-genius-were-resolute-workers-not-idle-dreamers/) [George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/) ## More by William Hazlitt > [First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not infrequently) to our cost, when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/first-impressions-are-often-the-truest-as-we-find-not-infrequently-to/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-art-of-life-is-to-know-how-to-enjoy-a-little-and-to-endure-very/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [We are thankful for good-will rather than for services, for the motive than the quantum of favor received.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/we-are-thankful-for-good-will-rather-than-for-services-for-the-motive/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The discussing the characters and foibles of common friends is a great sweetness and cement of friendship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-discussing-the-characters-and-foibles-of-common-friends-is-a/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Want of principle is power. Truth and honesty set a limit to our efforts, which impudence and hypocrisy easily overleap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/want-of-principle-is-power-truth-and-honesty-set-a-limit-to-our/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Repose is as necessary in conversation as in a picture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/repose-is-as-necessary-in-conversation-as-in-a-picture/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [No act terminating in itself constitutes greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/no-act-terminating-in-itself-constitutes-greatness/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Vice is man's nature: virtue is a habit--or a mask.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/vice-is-man-s-nature-virtue-is-a-habit-or-a-mask/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [We never do anything well till we cease to think about the manner doing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/we-never-do-anything-well-till-we-cease-to-think-about-the-manner/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/man-is-the-only-animal-that-laughs-and-weeps-for-he-is-the-only/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Those who have had none of the cares of this life to harass and disturb them, have been obliged to have recourse to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/those-who-have-had-none-of-the-cares-of-this-life-to-harass-and/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Poverty, when it is voluntary, is never despicable, but takes an heroical aspect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/poverty-when-it-is-voluntary-is-never-despicable-but-takes-an/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [We are not satisfied to be right, unless we can prove others to be quite wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/we-are-not-satisfied-to-be-right-unless-we-can-prove-others-to-be/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The world judge of men by their ability in their profession, and we judge of ourselves by the same test: for it is on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-world-judge-of-men-by-their-ability-in-their-profession-and-we/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The best part of our lives we pass in counting on what is to come.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-best-part-of-our-lives-we-pass-in-counting-on-what-is-to-come/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) [Explore all 671 William Hazlitt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) ## More Career quotes > [“Don’t allow anyone to pressure you into taking a job in a field that doesn’t feel right in your gut. 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In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rostam-batmanglij/i-am-a-very-big-fan-of-brian-eno-of-his-work-as-an-artist-and-making/) [Rostam Batmanglij](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rostam-batmanglij/) > [If I can beat a proven champion like Canelo, that will take my career to a different level.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennady-golovkin/if-i-can-beat-a-proven-champion-like-canelo-that-will-take-my-career/) [Gennady Golovkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennady-golovkin/) > [My non-career. My excuse for a career? Honestly, I never think about the word 'career.' I've had managers, the minute they say it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/my-non-career-my-excuse-for-a-career-honestly-i-never-think-about-the/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [“The vocation of a man lies in his vision.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-vocation-of-a-man-lies-in-his-vision/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I started off as a model maker, so the first part of my career was a model maker and then a motion control camera…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-knoll/i-started-off-as-a-model-maker-so-the-first-part-of-my-career-was-a/) [John Knoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-knoll/) > [Growing up I did commercials and things like that, but nothing serious. As I got older, my family is really hardcore into academics. 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