“I've become convinced that genius is a vastly overrated commodity. I think this country is full of geniuses, guys and gals so bright they make your average card carrying MENSA member look like Fucko the Clown. And I think that most of them are teachers, living and working in small town obscurity because that's the way they like it.”

“I think like a genius, I write like a distinguished author, and I speak like a child.”

“We stood silent. After a moment I said, "Real Geniuses never think they're geniuses.""Who says?""Me.""Because why?""Because genius is nine-tenths perspiration. Haven't you ever heard that? As soon as you think you're a genius, you slack off. You think everything you do is so great and everything.”

“...genius knows no country, genius sprouts anywhere, genius is like light, air. the patrimony of everybody, cosmopolitan like space, like life, like God.”

“Genius is a curse. That's how I look at it. Some think that the brilliant comprehend the universe in a way the rest of us can't. They see the world how it truly is—and that reality is so horrible the lose their minds. Clarity leads to insanity.”

“There's like a billion stars and planets, you'd think there'd be life on one of them. I mean why else would God go to all that trouble?Maybe to show us how special we are?Yet, when I look at them I feel totally insignificant. That's the genius, no?”