ABSTRACT
The predominant capacity for the manner of cognizance from which all genuine works of the arts, of poetry, and even of philosophy originate, is really what the word 'genius' denotes. Genius consists in an abnormal surplus of intellect for which a use can be found only by spending it on what is of a general character in existence; thereby, it is then subject to service to the human race as a whole, just as the normal intellect is to the individual. One might also add as a difference that, whereas that total contrast between chemical materials is the ground of the strongest elective affinity and mutual attraction, with the human race it tends to be more to the contrary. A perceptual apprehension has always been the generative process in which every genuine work of art, every immortal thought, receives the spark of life. The fundamental condition is an abnormal preponderance of sensibility over irritability and reproductive power.
