“ But for those who study human nature, it is quite obvious that the man of genius possesses both powers.
He passes, in his mind, through space, just as objects, once he has observed them, are faithfully born again in him, beautiful in the elegance or terrifying in the horror with which they first seized hold of him. He has seen the world in reality or his soul has revealed it to him intuitively. ”
 Honoré de Balzac, The Wild Ass’s Skin (1831). copy citation