“ I like a genius to be rather stupid. Mayn’t he be a sort of genius among them? ”
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Demons (1872). copy citation
| Author | Fyodor Dostoyevsky |
|---|---|
| Source | Demons |
| Topic | genius |
| Date | 1872 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Constance Garnett in 1916 |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8117/8117-h/8117-h.htm |
Context
““this boor probably understood the biting taunt in my words ... and no doubt he has read the manuscript with eagerness; he is simply lying with some object. But possibly he is not lying and is only genuinely stupid. I like a genius to be rather stupid. Mayn’t he be a sort of genius among them? Devil take the fellow!”
He got up from the sofa and began pacing from one end of the room to the other for the sake of exercise, as he always did after lunch.
“Leaving here soon?” asked Pyotr Stepanovitch from his easy chair, lighting a cigarette.”
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