Quote by Denis Diderot

Gaiety --a quality of ordinary men. Genius always presupposes some disorder in the machine.

Gaiety --a quality of ordinary men. Genius always presuppose

Summary

This quote suggests that everyday individuals possess a sense of cheerfulness and liveliness, which is referred to as "gaiety." However, true genius is said to arise from a disrupted or unbalanced mind. The quote implies that extraordinary intellectual and creative abilities often stem from a degree of unrest, irregularity, or nonconformity within an individual's thoughts and actions. This disorder in the "machine," or mind, is seen as a prerequisite for the emergence of genius.

Topics

Happiness

By Denis Diderot

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

Black beauty - he's a dark horse.

Black beauty - he's a dark horse.

Beauty

Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.

Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.

Warren G. Bennis

Leadership

Obsessed by a fairy tale, we spend our lives searching for a

Obsessed by a fairy tale, we spend our lives searching for a magic door and a lost kingdom of peace.

Peace

When you suffer, think not on how you can escape suffering,

When you suffer, think not on how you can escape suffering, but concentrate your efforts on what kind of inner moral and spiritual perfection this suffering requires.

Effort

The only things one can admire at length are those one admir

The only things one can admire at length are those one admires without knowing why.

Admiration

Idleness and pride tax with a heavier hand than kings and go

Idleness and pride tax with a heavier hand than kings and governments.

Benjamin Franklin

Pride

It is little men know of women their smiles and their tears

It is little men know of women their smiles and their tears alike are seldom what they seem.

Women

Of all the various kinds of sexual intercourse, this has the

Of all the various kinds of sexual intercourse, this has the least to recommend it. As an amusement, it is too fleeting; as an occupation, it is too wearing; as a public exhibition, there is no money in it. It is unsuited to the drawing room, and in the most cultured society it has long been banished from the social board. It has at last, in our day of progress and improvement, been degraded to brotherhood with flatulence. Among the best bred, these two arts are now indulged in only private--though by consent of the whole company, when only males are present, it is still permissible, in good society, to remove the embargo on the fundamental sigh.

Sex Fart Farting Flatulence Masturbation Onanism Self Abuse

The secret of a long life is to never trust a doctor.

The secret of a long life is to never trust a doctor.

Life Trust

All of our actions take their hue from the complexion of the

All of our actions take their hue from the complexion of the heart, as landscapes their variety from light.

Action(s)

The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose; the prose

The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose; the prose from the seventeenth century was poetry.

Poetry

Humility is the only true wisdom by which we prepare our min

Humility is the only true wisdom by which we prepare our minds for all the possible changes of life.

Wisdom