True sign of a genius

Perhaps a true sign of genius would be convincing everyone else you are.

A friend of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, Father Henri Martin Didon of the Dominican order, was principal of Arcueil College, near Paris. An energetic teacher, he used the discipline of sport as a powerful educational tool. One day, following an interschool athletics meeting, Didon ended his speech quoting three Latin words: Citius, Altius, Fortius (faster, higher, stronger).

He didn't say "the fastest, the highest, and the strongest" You see what I mean.

Henri Martin Didon was a wise guy and he knew.

I was thinking of members here.

Back to Citius, Altius, Fortius (faster, higher, stronger). What did Father Henri Martin Didon mean?

Faster, higher, stronger = better. Better than who?

In addition to all the philosophers here above, I checked some books and found the following quotations : 

When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him ( Jonathan Swift, 1667-1745 ).

Oscar Wilde at the New York Customs : " I have nothing to declare, except my genius ".

Genius does what it must do and talent does what it can do (Meredith).

of course he will invest, but why quit chess when you're the best at something.

he can invest and also play chess.

i don't think he'll retire and drink iced tea for the rest of his life.

Further to post 45 and answering the question of this forum ( true sign of a genius ) I also checked the Dutch book " 20.000 quotations " and found 82 quotations on "genius " ( and "talent " ), too many and too much to publish here ( what a pity...) 

For the Dutch readers : it is Twintigduizend Citaten, Aphorismen en Spreekwoorden, bijeengebracht door  S.W.F. Margadant, 1935.

FlintClintwood, you could be a politician with this type of logic.

Anyway, no one has introduced the societal context.

As Napoleon commented - " in the land of the blind the one eyed man is King".  

Ruby : let me try to make your remark more clear, you mean how it is to live with a genius ?

We here share chess and have similar interests, and a genius is more than welcome.

But for people in relation to each other, it could be different, having a genius around.

I invite you to react with examples, for the benefit and pleasure of us all !

(You know English is not my mother language, so don't misunderstand when using wrond words...)    Regards, Ger.

Ok RomyGer, so going back to my example of a boy raised by wolves, the pack might think he is he is a genius as he can reach higher and collect fruit or leaves from trees. Or they might think he is not very bright as he cannot run as fast as them. Another wolf might be better at licking their paws. They might be thought of as genius within that limited society.

This is just one quick example of the top of my head, might think of some others and get back to you later.

Does that mean I can be a genius if I lick my hands?

Most likely the wolves will think the boy is a fat slow sausage with no claws or teeth.

Actually they're not even that clever.  More likely to be along the lines of "mmmmm, sausage."

Anyway, the goofy logic is, well... goofy.  Admirable abilities are admired for both their rarity and level of excellence.

You can tell some dope that he's the grandmaster of breathing in the land where men have no lungs.  But fantasy worlds aside, breathing isn't a rare ability with an appreciably wide range of skill.

i.e. If your supposedly genius attribute is shared by a majority of the population and is not significantly superior to boot, then it's just meaningless word play.

The signs of a genius are displayed at a young age. Geniuses are child prodigies. Carlsen and Fischer are geniuses as they display their great chess talents  when they were young.

The only player who exerted as little effort to defeat the world's best as Carlsen does was Capablanca.

Which is why I say they are secretly the same person.

Maybe, were you raised by a wolf pack?

In a society that valued hand licking you could be considered a genius.

I dont know enough about how you lick or what else you might use your hands for to comment on whether you are a genius or not!

Waffle - that might be offensive to wolves. Many people raised by wolf packs might disagree with you.

"Many people raised by wolf packs might disagree with you."

I guess I wouldn't let that bother me much.  I kinda' doubt any person has ever been raised by a wolf pack. 

Hey look, a plump, delicious looking baby!  Let's eat it!

Have you no compassion!?  Let's raise it as our own even if it means diverting resources from our actual offspring.

I'm no expert on wolfpack psychology, but somehow one of those two statements seems much more far fetched than the other.