A successful intellectual avoids currently unpopular ideas. Intellectuals are temperamentally fickle. When conservatives are in control, they out-do the conservatives. Soon, thereafter, when liberal ideas seem to be acceptable, it is amazing what an about-face intellectuals make. A typical intellectual will be sentimental.
Intellectuals are instinctively dissatisfied with what is.
Intellectuals are the natural teachers of the young. The young prefer the visionaries, whether it be on pollution, gun control, or abortion. Intellectuals tend to close ranks in defense of radicals. The most steadfast support radicals receive will come from intellectuals. It is the intellectuals who lead the world from one extreme to the next.