American Literature: Choose One
Gertrude Stein
1) associated 'genius' with 'masculinity.'
2) was a self-admitted 'genius.'
3) co-wrote an opera with Dizzy Gillespie
4) passed a long, rather uneventful life in Queens
5) all and none of the above
poem by Morgan Michaels

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Related quotes
It takes a lot of time to be a genius, you have to sit around so much doing nothing, really doing nothing.
quote by Gertrude Stein

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Brilliant Genius, April Fool So Tedious
April Fool So Tedious……,
Brilliant Genius, Brilliant Genius …..,
Through an elite prism he sees us……,
Brilliant Genius, Brilliant Genius …..,
One step short of Jesus…….,
No doubt he doesn’t need us……,
And would never heed us……,
But wants to clothe and feed us……,
Poor bare lawn, he’d even seed us…….,
Just like a lonely, forlorn Venus……,
April Fool So Tedious……,
Brilliant Genius, Brilliant Genius…..! ! !
poem by Trade Martin

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Runaway Genius
Running & running, of course i know where I'm going, I'm a genius.
Running & running faster now, my family is coming, yelling, & screaming. I know why, I'm a genius.
Running & running faster than before, here comes my friends with bats & sticks. I know why they're coming, I'm a genius.
Running & Running as fast as I can, here comes more people with pots & pans. I know why they're chasing me, I'm a genius.
Eventually, I tire out & begin to jog.
But as soon as I stop here comes the mob. I was about to resume running but then I turned around. The mob was in silence, then I ask a very simple but complex question, 'What is the meaning os life? ' I know of course, I'm a genius.
poem by Tevin Ellis

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Lyrical Genius,
lyrical genius,
compare the man of genius,
to all those,
who wish to reach our level,
when you see me,
I got lyric's,
The diction of poetry,
the euphoric nature,
the rythmic tone,
the man of genius reveal's some occult power,
morals and grace,
not playing the victim of false pity,
just like will power,
in nothingness of distinguish character,
the prodigy in the society,
the seeing as the menace,
the crime from man of genius,
man of genius reveal's so much poetic language,
write some classic lyric's,
think of another enigma,
nostalgia, retribution,
bloody fiend,
all those men of genius from history did these,
genius has to go with the moral's,
grace and morality,
will to create in humanity,
not to ruin humanity,
think and act right,
the world belong's to us.
poem by Maxim Muyu

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Aint He A Genius
By: jimmy buffett
1970
See the lady
Smiles as if to tell
Her son remembers everyone
Treats em all quite well
He never asked for promises
And now his fame is wide
And everyone who knew him well shares a little pride
Chorus:
Aint he a genius
The boys become a star
And he smiles upon the faces
Who wish they could go far
Not long ago they criticized
The genius only wrote
And now they listen spellbound
With lumps caught in their throats
His virtue was sheer poverty
His vice was reading plays
While other children starved and fought
He learned just what to say
Through tension and confession
He beat the monster down
Then surfaced in society no longer underground
Chorus:
Aint he a genius
The boys become a star
And he smiles upon the faces
Who wish they could go far
Now they remember
Talk only of his good
While jealousy flows in their veins
And says I wish I could
Aint he a genius
song performed by by Jimmy Buffett

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Talk not of genius baffled, Genius is master of man. Genius does what it must, and talent does what it can.
quote by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1860)

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It is not because the touch of genius has roused genius to production, but because the admiration of genius has made talent ambitious, that the harvest is still so abundant.
quote by Margaret Fuller

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Robert Fisher
I wrote this poem shortly after his death on January 17,2008.
Bobby Fisher, chess savant and master
Unparalleled among the best that played.
A champion, a genius, destroyer
Of chess opponents, this day passed away.
You either loved him or hated the man
There wasn’t middle ground. His time had come.
Eccentricities never lost his fans.
I am the proof, e pluribus Unum.
In life his brief existence was tragic
Perhaps in death we’ll gain understanding
Of genius. Chess his forte, his magic
Preoccupation gave us deepening
Enlightenment of Caissa, his mentor.
His spirit now with her forevermore.
poem by Albert Ahearn

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Turlough Carolan
He was blind and illiterate that much of him we know
And still his music is with us from centuries ago
He had creative genius and his genius still shine through
A rare gem Turlough Carolan one of the chosen few.
The harper of the county Meath in music live today
His music known around the World in Countries far away
And Carolan's concerto still very much alive
The only test of genius is when their work survive.
The only test of genius is when their work live on
For centuries and centuries when they are dead and gone
And Carolan has passed that test a name to celebrate
His music live three hundred years the genius of the great.
A son of peasant parents and destined to be poor
And though addicted to alcohol his genius remained pure
I like that saying it says it all 'can't keep a good man down'
And the name of Turlough Carolan was destined for renown.
I just switched on the radio to hear the D.J. say
This is a tune from Ireland from Ireland far away
Carolan's farewell to music, oh let the music play
The music of the harper the harper lives today.
poem by Francis Duggan

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Miss Gertrude Stein was as light as a bright
Gertrude Stein was on her dying bed;
(i.e. she was dying, not the bed) :
the doctor came in, Alice walking ahead;
‘What’s the answer, Doc? ’ said Miss Stein;
that was what Miss Gertrude Stein said.
but the doctor merely shook his head;
standing there at the head of the bed,
side to sighed he shook his head.
Miss Stein was as bright as a bright bright ray
of light until her dying day
(i.e. she was dying, not the day)
and there to the doctor at the head of the bed
she said
‘Then, what’s the question? …’ – leaving
Alice laughing in her grieving
oh yes oh yes Miss Stein was bright,
she, did not rage at the dying of the light.
poem by Michael Shepherd

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Gertrude Stein really thought of Hemingway as frail. He almost married Stein.
quote by Leslie Fiedler

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Men give me credit for some genius. All the genius I have lies in this when I have a subject in hand, I study it profoundly. Day and night it is before me. My mind becomes pervaded with it. Then the effort that I have made is what people are pleased to call the fruit of genius. It is the fruit of labor and thought.
quote by Alexander Hamilton

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Which is better?
A genius knows when to dumb it down
A smart man knows when to know nothing
And an idiot can be all three
Well what does that mean?
Your only as smart as others allow
So if your too smart to be understood,
To others your intelligence level goes down
So to truly be a genius you must know when dumbing it down is good
To know nothing isn't unintelligence
It's best for different situations
Though very different from a genius,
A smart man recognizes when on his knowledge to put limitations
An idiot is in the best position,
Because it's second nature for them to put it in layman's terms
An idiot has the best potential for genius if it's his intention
And being an idiot is how others feel their intelligence is confirmed
poem by Martin McCollugh

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There is no genius in life like the genius of energy and industry.
quote by Donald G. Mitchell

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Genius creates, and taste preserves. Taste is the good sense of genius; without taste, genius is only sublime folly.
quote by Alexander Pope

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Uneventful Life
We all say at times we live uneventful lives
and I am no exception to that rule.
However, looking back
at the uneventful events in my life
I see my life might not be as uneventful as I thought.
At thirteen
I won an inter-school competition
for a painting that I did
and had, it exhibited
at the Royal Canadian National Exhibition.
Up until I was seventeen,
I never wanted to drive a car.
The thought of doing so
terrified me completely,
then one night while out with some friends
we were involved in a head-on car crash.
In the weeks that followed, I learned to drive.
At eighteen
I took up writing after saying to a friend,
“If they can do it why can’t we? ”
The reference of they was to the Beatles.
At twenty-one
while at a fun fair
I wrote what was suppose to be some lyrics,
but turned out to be a poem
that eventually would be my best loved poem
and read by thousands worldwide.
At twenty-five,
I attended the funeral of a friend
and eventually ended up marrying his widow.
At fifty-five,
I discovered a brother I never knew I had.
At sixty-one,
a classmate contacted me,
lifting me from the doldrums turned my life around.
Someone whom I never talked to
when we were at school,
but who has become a wonderful friend
and extension of my family.
If you take away these little events,
my life has been pretty boring
bordering on the mundane
and very uneventful.
3 September 2009
Authors Note:
This is just a few of the uneventful things that have happened in my life. There are more, but to put them in one poem would make it too long to put up here. Thanks for reading about my uneventful and very boring and mundane life.
Hugs David Harris 2009
poem by David Harris

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But at the time when he wrote, Englishmen, with the rarest exceptions, wrote only in French or Latin; and when they began to write in English, a man of genius, to interpret and improve on him, was not found for a long time.
quote by George Saintsbury

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Picasso once remarked I do not care who it is that has or does influence me as long as it is not myself.
quote by Gertrude Stein

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Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.
quote by Gertrude Stein

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Everyone gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.
quote by Gertrude Stein

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