--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As the great Moltke used to say, Genius…" description: "\"“As the great Moltke used to say, Genius is diligence.”\" — William T. Vollmann" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/823/william-t-vollmann-2100_diligence_as-the-great-moltke-used-to-say-genius-i_1216558.png" --- # As the great Moltke used to say, Genius is diligence. ![“As the great Moltke used to say, Genius is diligence.” quote by William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/823/william-t-vollmann-2100_diligence_as-the-great-moltke-used-to-say-genius-i_1216558.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/823/william-t-vollmann-2100_diligence_as-the-great-moltke-used-to-say-genius-i_1216558.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/823/william-t-vollmann-2100_diligence_as-the-great-moltke-used-to-say-genius-i_1216558.png) > ““As the great Moltke used to say, Genius is diligence.”” [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Genius arises from persistent hard work rather than innate talent. **In simple terms:** Hard work creates brilliance. Key Takeaway Cultivate disciplined effort. Themes hard work talent achievement Mood determined inspirational Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - career development - academic study - creative projects - skill mastery Key Concepts growth mindset effort theory Questions to Reflect On - How can you structure daily routines to build mastery? - What habits reinforce diligent effort? A Different Perspective Talent alone is insufficient without sustained practice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Diligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diligence/) [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) ## Related quotes > [There's a lot of controversy online, some people say i'm a genius and other say i'm hugely talented.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-kindler/there-s-a-lot-of-controversy-online-some-people-say-i-m-a-genius-and/) [Andy Kindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-kindler/) > [They say that genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains," he remarked with a smile. "It's a very bad definition, but it does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/they-say-that-genius-is-an-infinite-capacity-for-taking-pains-he/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Even when writing your own poems, you need to talk to people; you need to magpie around, getting words and things. I'm very against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/even-when-writing-your-own-poems-you-need-to-talk-to-people-you-need/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [People say to me, 'You're a genius; you're great.' I don't know if I'll ever feel that way about myself. Some things, I feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/poo-bear/people-say-to-me-you-re-a-genius-you-re-great-i-don-t-know-if-i-ll/) [Poo Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/poo-bear/) > [When my nephew was 3 and 4, he would say the most genius things. He said, You're hammer macho with FBI dogs. I thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beck/when-my-nephew-was-3-and-4-he-would-say-the-most-genius-things-he/) [Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beck/) > [People say i am a genius. I might be one but i am not the only one. 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Are you?" he asked.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-de-mello/a-writer-arrived-at-the-monastery-to-write-a-book-about-the-master/) [Anthony de Mello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-de-mello/) > [It is good sense applied with diligence to what was at first a mere accident, and which by great application grew to be called,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-is-good-sense-applied-with-diligence-to-what-was-at-first-a-mere/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“Diligence does not work if there is a lack of innate talent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-stone/diligence-does-not-work-if-there-is-a-lack-of-innate-talent/) [Irving Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-stone/) > [Watch yourself with all diligence, lest the enemy steals near and robs you, depriving you of this great treasure, which is inner peace and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorenzo-scupoli/watch-yourself-with-all-diligence-lest-the-enemy-steals-near-and-robs/) [Lorenzo Scupoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorenzo-scupoli/) > [She spent hours drawing on her own, trying to perfect her craft. And when she got into music, she had that same diligence in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-joplin/she-spent-hours-drawing-on-her-own-trying-to-perfect-her-craft-and/) [Laura Joplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-joplin/) > [“Anytime I see a rainbow, what comes into my mind is how skillful and talented someone was to create an ark that didn't leak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/anytime-i-see-a-rainbow-what-comes-into-my-mind-is-how-skillful-and/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [The Only cure for nihilism is for liberal democratic societies - their electorates, their judiciary, and their political leadership- to insist that force is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/the-only-cure-for-nihilism-is-for-liberal-democratic-societies-their/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) ## More by William T. Vollmann > [Some friends and I, we went right up there behind the studio and we got on a train, we could tell it was going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/some-friends-and-i-we-went-right-up-there-behind-the-studio-and-we/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [I read and write for most of the day, but I do let myself be interrupted by real life. I enjoy going out with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/i-read-and-write-for-most-of-the-day-but-i-do-let-myself-be/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [“A treble clef, for example, resembles a Muscovite or Leningrader in a bulky hooded parka. A bass clef bends as simply and painfully as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/a-treble-clef-for-example-resembles-a-muscovite-or-leningrader-in-a/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [Oh, ants, my sisters, good old honeydew-seekers! From close up you are sticky and shiny and gristly; and your nymphs have parasitic red mites…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/oh-ants-my-sisters-good-old-honeydew-seekers-from-close-up-you-are/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [It will be fun to give some to prostitutes,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/it-will-be-fun-to-give-some-to-prostitutes/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [If I didn't feel that I was doing something or trying to do something for others, then I would have very little excuse for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/if-i-didn-t-feel-that-i-was-doing-something-or-trying-to-do-something/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [Just for the hell of it, try to love someone as unlike you as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/just-for-the-hell-of-it-try-to-love-someone-as-unlike-you-as-possible/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [“The shortest man, codenamed RIMSKY, said to me that freedom means understanding our place within the laws of history; we are more free when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/the-shortest-man-codenamed-rimsky-said-to-me-that-freedom-means/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [“Do you want to know what happiness is? Happiness is the absence of unpleasant information.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/do-you-want-to-know-what-happiness-is-happiness-is-the-absence-of/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [My father hates organized religion, probably because he hates the God who killed his little girl back in 1968. I find religions variously bemusing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/my-father-hates-organized-religion-probably-because-he-hates-the-god/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [There's an Inuit myth about the origin of the human race. There were two brothers, and the younger brother eventually gets changed into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/there-s-an-inuit-myth-about-the-origin-of-the-human-race-there-were/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [Don't write for money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/don-t-write-for-money/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [I first got really interested in Noh in about 1977. There was an independent bookstore in Bloomington, Indiana where I was going to high…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/i-first-got-really-interested-in-noh-in-about-1977-there-was-an/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [“More aid, better directed! Couldn't we all use that? And what if the universe enacts less aid, more poorly directed?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/more-aid-better-directed-couldn-t-we-all-use-that-and-what-if-the/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [“whatever fate sends us quickly becomes us, and we grow blind to what we might otherwise have been. And”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/whatever-fate-sends-us-quickly-becomes-us-and-we-grow-blind-to-what/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) [Explore all 186 William T. Vollmann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) ## More Diligence quotes > [The Only cure for nihilism is for liberal democratic societies - their electorates, their judiciary, and their political leadership- to insist that force is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/the-only-cure-for-nihilism-is-for-liberal-democratic-societies-their/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [“Anytime I see a rainbow, what comes into my mind is how skillful and talented someone was to create an ark that didn't leak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/anytime-i-see-a-rainbow-what-comes-into-my-mind-is-how-skillful-and/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [She spent hours drawing on her own, trying to perfect her craft. And when she got into music, she had that same diligence in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-joplin/she-spent-hours-drawing-on-her-own-trying-to-perfect-her-craft-and/) [Laura Joplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-joplin/) > [Watch yourself with all diligence, lest the enemy steals near and robs you, depriving you of this great treasure, which is inner peace and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorenzo-scupoli/watch-yourself-with-all-diligence-lest-the-enemy-steals-near-and-robs/) [Lorenzo Scupoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorenzo-scupoli/) > [“Diligence does not work if there is a lack of innate talent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-stone/diligence-does-not-work-if-there-is-a-lack-of-innate-talent/) [Irving Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-stone/) > [We study health, and we deliberate upon our meats and drink and air and exercises, and we hew and we polish every stone that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/we-study-health-and-we-deliberate-upon-our-meats-and-drink-and-air/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Diligence, above all, is the mother of good luck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/diligence-above-all-is-the-mother-of-good-luck/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [In the corporate world, if you have analysts, due diligence, and no horse sense, you've just described hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/in-the-corporate-world-if-you-have-analysts-due-diligence-and-no/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [LAOCOON, n. A famous piece of antique scripture representing a priest of that name and his two sons in the folds of two enormous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/laocoon-n-a-famous-piece-of-antique-scripture-representing-a-priest/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [That which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in. and the best of me is diligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/that-which-ordinary-men-are-fit-for-i-am-qualified-in-and-the-best-of/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [ If he \[Thomas Edison\] had a needle to find in a haystack, he would not stop to reason where it was most likely to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikola-tesla/if-he-thomas-edison-had-a-needle-to-find-in-a-haystack-he-would-not/) [Nikola Tesla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikola-tesla/) > [Building our homes as fortresses of righteousness for protection from the world takes constant labor and diligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-b-wirthlin/building-our-homes-as-fortresses-of-righteousness-for-protection-from/) [Joseph B. Wirthlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-b-wirthlin/) > [People underestimate the importance of dilligence as a virtue. No doubt it has something to do with how supremely mundane it seems. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/people-underestimate-the-importance-of-dilligence-as-a-virtue-no/) [Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/) > [What the world needs is not dogma but an attitude of scientific inquiry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/what-the-world-needs-is-not-dogma-but-an-attitude-of-scientific/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Go out of the house to see the moon, and 't is mere tinsel; it will not please as when its light shines upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/go-out-of-the-house-to-see-the-moon-and-t-is-mere-tinsel-it-will-not/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Browse all 360 Diligence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diligence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“As the great Moltke used to say, Genius is diligence.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William T. 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