Genius

In all nations and in all periods of history, intellectual exploits were the work of a few men and were appreciated only by a small elite. The many looked upon these feats with hatred and disdain, at best with indifference.

Austrian Economics: An Anthology, p. 58

A true genius is very rarely acknowledged as such by his contemporaries.

Bureaucracy, p. 13

Everything that is thought, done and accomplished is a performance of individuals. New ideas and innovations are always an achievement of uncommon men.

Human Action, pp. 859–60; p. 863

Genius does not allow itself to be hindered by any consideration for the comfort of its fellows—even of those closest to it.

Socialism, p. 85

It may well be that he who gives new values to mankind, or who is capable of so giving, suffers want and poverty. But there is no way to prevent this effectively. The creative spirit innovates necessarily. It must press forward. It must destroy the old and set the new in its place. It could not conceivably be relieved of this burden. If it were it would cease to be a pioneer. Progress cannot be organized. It is not difficult to ensure that the genius who has completed his work shall be crowned with laurel; that his mortal remains shall be laid in a grave of honor and monuments erected to his memory. But it is impossible to smooth the way that he must tread if he is to fulfill his destiny. Society can do nothing to aid progress. If it does not load the individual with quite unbreakable chains, if it does not surround the prison in which it encloses him with quite unsurmountable walls, it has done all that can be expected of it. Genius will soon find a way to win its own freedom.

Socialism, p. 167

To see and to act in advance, to follow new ways, is always the concern only of the few, the leaders.

Socialism, p. 188

The history of science is the record of the achievements of individuals who worked in isolation and, very often, met with indifference or even open hostility on the part of their contemporaries.

The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science, p. 129

It is characteristic of very great persons to move forward to highest accomplishment out of an inner drive; others require an external impulse to overcome deep-rooted inertia and to develop their own selves.

Nation, State, and Economy, p. 213

What counts is not the data, but the mind that deals with them. The data that Galileo, Newton, Ricardo, Menger, and Freud made use of for their great discoveries lay at the disposal of every one of their contemporaries and of untold previous generations. Galileo was certainly not the first to observe the swinging motion of the chandelier in the cathedral at Pisa.

Epistemological Problems of Economics, p. 71

It is merely the routine of scientific procedure that can be taught and presented in textbooks. The power to accomplish feats of scientific achievement can be awakened only in one who already possesses the necessary intellectual gifts and strength of character. To be sure, without the foundations which mastery of the scientific technique and literature provides, nothing can be accomplished. However, the decisive factor remains the personality of the thinker.

Epistemological Problems of Economics, pp. 71–72

The first thing a genius needs is to breathe free air.

The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality, p. 108

Genius does not allow itself to be hindered by any consideration for the comfort of its fellows—even of those closest to it.

Socialism, pp. 85–85