“ But ordinary men cannot produce really impressive art-works. Those who can are men of genius ”
George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman (1903). copy citation
Author | George Bernard Shaw |
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Source | Man and Superman |
Topic | genius art |
Date | 1903 |
Language | English |
Reference | |
Note | |
Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3328/3328-h/3328-h.htm |
Context
“And if the fly, like my hero, shows a strength that promises to extricate him, how swiftly does she abandon her pretence of passiveness, and openly fling coil after coil about him until he is secured for ever!
If the really impressive books and other art-works of the world were produced by ordinary men, they would express more fear of women's pursuit than love of their illusory beauty. But ordinary men cannot produce really impressive art-works. Those who can are men of genius: that is, men selected by Nature to carry on the work of building up an intellectual consciousness of her own instinctive purpose. Accordingly, we observe in the man of genius all the unscrupulousness and all the "self-sacrifice"”
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