Don’t Respect Great Minds Too Much
“I believe that excessive admiration for the work of great minds is one of the most unfortunate preoccupations of intellectual youth–along with a conviction that certain problems cannot be attacked, let alone solved, because of one’s relatively limited abilities.
“In ordinate respect for genius is based on a commendable sense of fairness and modesty that is difficult to censure. However, when foremost in the mind of a novice, it cripples initiative and prevents the formulation of original work. Defect for defect, arrogance is preferable to diffidence, boldness measures its strengths and conquers or is conquered, and undue modesty flees from battle, condemned to shameful inactivity.” (p. 9)