A neurotic can perfectly well be a literary genius, but his greatest danger is always that he will not recognize when he is dull.
quote by Louis Auchincloss

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes

I'm afraid of making a mistake. I'm not totally neurotic, but I'm pretty neurotic about it. I'm as close to totally neurotic as you can get without being totally neurotic.
quote by Bridget Fonda

Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
Vote! | Copy!
Danger
There is danger atop our heads;
There is danger around us all;
There is danger beneath our feet;
There is danger to man and beast!
There is danger in the skies;
There is danger in the seas;
There is danger ev’n on land;
There is danger to man and beast!
There is danger from earth’s bowels;
There is danger in forests;
There is danger in hills, vales;
There is danger to man and beast!
There is danger from our brethren;
There is danger from kith, kin;
There is danger from strangers;
There is danger to man and beast!
There is danger within us;
There is danger from space;
There is danger to our soul;
Nevertheless, God protects us.
poem by John Celes

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

I try not to be but I'm super-neurotic about diet. I'm neurotic about trying not to be neurotic! I'm like every other girl. I have to try really hard my whole life to try to be fit. And I'm super-vain. And I want to wear cute clothes.
quote by Gwen Stefani

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The man whose action habitually bears the stamp of his mind is a genius, but the greatest genius is not always equal to himself, or he would cease to be human.
quote by Honore De Balzac

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
In sheer genius Pascal ranks among the very greatest writers who have lived upon this earth. And his genius was not simply artistic; it displayed itself no less in his character and in the quality of his thought.
quote by Lytton Strachey

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Edgar Allan Poe
An American literary icon but what caused his death none seem to know
He was more than a man of words the great Edgar Allan Poe
He died when in his forties his best writing years of him ahead
His fame has attained greatness and he is widely read.
Most writers in their forties have scarcely reached their writing prime
His marvellous poem 'The Raven' has not faded out in time
A writer for all ages and one of literary note
And many who love literature have him as their favourite poet.
In life he was quite famous in death greatness he did attain
As an immortal literary gem 'The Raven' does remain
In the English speaking Countries of the World from North to Southern shore
His writings remain popular and his readers now far more
Than he had in his lifetime his genius is living on
Whilst millions of his contemporaries to obscurity have gone
Despite the passing of time his literary legend grow
Though in his too brief life span few him did wish to know.
poem by Francis Duggan

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
During the first period of a man's life the greatest danger is not to take the risk. When once the risk has really been taken, then the greatest danger is to risk too much.
quote by Kahlil Gibran

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Danger Ahead
Here she comes down the street and that look is in her eye
And the way she looks, if looks could kill they might
All the kids down in the street run away
When she goes by its the end of the day
So believe what they say, theres danger in the air
Look through a window and youll see her standing there
Shes the latest of the greatest with the wind blowin in her hair
The prima donna shes back in town
And you see her for miles around
So believe what they say theres danger in the air
Chorus: beware theres danger ahead
The endless summer is dead
Look out theres danger ahead
Monday mornin shes already up and gone
She knows what she wants and she knew it all along
With her entourage on either side
Just one look she cant be denied
So believe what they say theres danger in the air
Chorus
Shes got a reputation thats way ahead of her time
Shes got adulation thats way ahead of her mind
Everybody runs around to please
When she looks in the mirror she just has to freeze
So believe what they say theres danger in the air
Chorus
song performed by by Electric Light Orchestra

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Too Blind To Recognize
Too blind to recognize.
No one really knew,
Who they saw on a regular basis.
And this was not encouraged,
To be expected to accept.
Yet discussing other people,
Was what they did best.
Too blind to recognize.
Too blind to recognize.
Disrespecting was all they knew.
And this they did with a full effect.
No one knew who did what.
Or who had experiences to share,
That would provide benefits all would get.
So no one saw to see to receive opportunities,
They would meet but too blind to recognize.
Too blind to recognize,
Gifts given as a prize!
Gifts given they should pride.
Too blind to recognize,
Gifts given as a prize!
Gifts given they should pride.
Just too blind to recognize.
Just too blind to recognize.
Just too blind to recognize...
Gifts given as a prize!
Gifts given they should pride.
Too blind to recognize.
Just too blind to recognize.
Too blind to recognize.
Just too blind to recognize...
Gifts given as a prize!
Gifts given they should pride.
Too blind to recognize.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the man of genius and the aristocrat are frequently regarded as eccentrics because genius and aristocrat are entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the crowd.
quote by Edith Sitwell

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The anguish of the neurotic individual is the same as that of the saint. The neurotic, the saint are engaged in the same battle. Their blood flows from similar wounds. But the first one gasps and the other one gives.
quote by Georges Bataille

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
One Has To Wonder Why
John Clare was the English language greatest poet of Nature
So much of Nature's ways the man did know
But he died in a mental institution
In Northampton asylum near to fifteen decades ago
Just like Vincent Van Gogh the Dutchman a World renowned artist
His paintings are sold for millions today
Yet he died poor and mentally unstable
At his own hands in quite a tragic way
William Cowper was a literary genius
A man who too was mentally unwell
He never did enjoy the fame he earned
And life for him it was an Earthly hell
James Clarence Mangan is the National Bard of Ireland
He died in mid life at forty six years old
A poor Dubliner in Ireland's years of famine
His death was of consumption we are told
Janet Frame was a great New Zealand writer
But she was seldom happy in her mind
Her life story is not a happy story
Though her equal would be very hard to find
Stephen Foster was America's greatest songwriter
Of him true greatness cannot be denied
But fame in his lifetime failed to make him happy
And 'twas of alcoholic poisoning that he died
Paul Robeson one of the World's greatest singers
He died a very disappointed man
A victim of politics and racism
Yet his fame on it does not have a time span.
Poverty, madness and racism not a barrier to greatness
As the lives of many greats does testify
But in their lives some for their genius not rewarded
And why this should be one has to wonder why?
poem by Francis Duggan

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Unlock That Box!
Everybody knows.
You're behind closed doors.
Wishing to live a life you hide.
But afraid to step outside.
So...
Unlock that box!
You like to peep but get on out.
Too many people keep their wishes swept away.
To have their walls upon them fall...
As they dry to rot and fade.
Unlock that box!
Get out and walk the block.
And stop playing the game with life,
Of love or love me not.
Everybody knows.
You're behind closed doors.
Wishing to live a life you hide.
But afraid to step outside.
So...
Unlock that box!
Or...
Get somebody who will prove,
That you can move and do it!
Don't be neurotic you can do something about it.
Unlock that box.
Why you choose to be neurotic.
Unlock that box.
You can do something about it.
Unlock that box.
You're like an addict on narcotics.
And everybody knows you're there behind closed doors.
Unlock that box.
Why you choose to be neurotic.
Unlock that box.
You can do something about it.
Unlock that box.
You're like an addict on narcotics.
Unlock that box.
Why you choose to be neurotic.
Unlock that box.
You're like an addict on narcotics.
Unlock that box!
You can do something about it.
Unlock that box!
You're hypnotized and neurotic.
Unlock that box.
You're like an addict on narcotics.
Unlock that box!
You're hypnotized and neurotic.
Unlock that box.
You're like an addict on narcotics.
Unlock that box!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Speranza's Son
His poems and plays are literary gems his quotes popular today
A genius and a great poet with words he had a way
Incarcerated in Reading Jail he lived at a time
When for a man to love another man was looked on as a crime.
His mother was a great poet Speranza was her name
In the Dublin literary circles of her time she was one who knew fame
She gave to the World Oscar Wilde the truly enlightened one
What woman would not feel proud to give birth to such a son.
His father the antiquarian and gifted writer became famed far and wide
And as an expert on human diseases his worth could not be denied
But nowadays he is better known as Oscar's father the wit and literary great
A legend for the ages and one to celebrate.
The Importance of Being Earnest, The Ballad of Reading Jail
and Lady Windermere's Fan
From the pen of Speranza's son the renowned literary man
And though he died as a pauper in Paris from Dublin far away
Through his humorous quotes and insightful writings his legend lives today.
poem by Francis Duggan

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Nothing is so envied as genius, nothing so hopeless of attainment by labor alone. Though labor always accompanies the greatest genius, without the intellectual gift labor alone will do little.
quote by B.R. Hayden

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
If neurotic is wanting two mutually exclusive things at one and the same time, then I'm neurotic as hell. I'll be flying back and forth between one mutually exclusive thing and another for the rest of my days.
quote by Sylvia Plath

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
A World Of One's Own
At the same time
Shakespeare’s sister,
Shakespeare’s brilliant,
pregnant, sister,
was killing herself
In London,
the North American Continent
was doing perfectly well
without her or her genius
or her brother’s genius
on the other side of the Atlantic.
Well, not perfectly well.
The Spanish were already making
a big mess of Mexico
and Central America.
A BIG mess.
But lots of things
were still going well
north of the border
that wasn’t yet there.
The glaciers
had obligingly melted away
thousands of years before
leaving a land
carpeted from coast to coast
with primeval forests,
sky-darkening legions
of migrating fowl,
undamned rivers,
teeming with fish,
coursing their way
to the sea,
and, of course,
hundreds of indigenous tribes
who had managed to live
there
thousands of years
without building
one Wal-Mart
or Super Wal-Mart.
All these beings
were expressing their genius
in a mindblowingly beautiful
ensemble production
without benefit
of pen and paper,
or proscenium arch,
without benefit
of admission
to the best universities,
without benefit
of 500 pounds a year
and a room of one’s own.
All they asked
was that the rest of the world,
especially Europe,
stay the f... away
and
leave them the f...
alone.
They were not
to get
their wish.
poem by Percy Dovetonsils

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Doubt is to certainty as neurosis is to psychosis. The neurotic is in doubt and has fears about persons and things; the psychotic has convictions and makes claims about them. In short, the neurotic has problems, the psychotic has solutions.
quote by Thomas Szasz

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger - but recognize the opportunity.
quote by Richard M. Nixon

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
On Reading Poems Of Mangan
Many of his verses tell of his great sadness
The hardships through life he had to endure
He lived in the hungry years of the great famine
And he knew what it was like to be poor.
His father James a Limerick man from Shanagolden
'About that place there is a famous song'
And his mother Catharine Smith from Fishamble Street in Dublin
Quite poor and to poor kindred she belong.
But circumstance of birth doesn't seem to hinder genius
Though wisdom from the poor is seldom quote
And though Mangan's verse today may seem neglected
He surely was a major Irish poet.
He never had his poems published in England
And outside of Ireland he's almost unknown
But his 'Dark Rosaleen' perhaps will live forever
And it took a genius to write such a poem.
He himself said Dark Rosaleen was from the Irish of Costello
And that into English 'Roisin Duibh' he did translate
But many critics say the poem is quite original
And that in any case it lives as something great.
One of Ireland's greatest poets James Clarence Mangan
But in the literary World a near forgotten name
And I have my doubts if there were many better
And he is worthy of a greater fame.
poem by Francis Duggan

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!