The Topeka state journal., 1914-01-10

uIDlScOv vH|H eH MUSES..



Arc you = geniuss Ars you an unrI
discovered. an n1dsveloped- Snake
speare7 Are you . Darwin frittering
away your existence In q grocery
store7. Arc you q Lincoln, living In
the wrong age. SSpinosa lacking In
education and opportunities7 Abe you
a s'muta. inglori0us Milton.'' who has
not found q cray?
Take heart! xou are only one Of q
great army OF men Of genius who never
got q chance.
that real talent always mAke9 tta
way" and that the fact that you have
not made your way and you stick IN
the grocery or sweatahop is proof posi-
tive that you have no ability that
this is just where you belong" dc
not take him seriously. He II dead
wrong. At least this is what Sigurd
Ibsen, famous son of famous faith
err" the son of the great Norwegian
poet and dramatist, Henrik Ibsen. says
Sigurd Ibsen in a book entitled HUI
man Qufntessence,' published recently,
pays a warm tribute to the millions of
undiscovered geniuses who never got
the opportunity to demonstrate their
ability to the world. Tho Human
Quintessence" immortalizes the undis-
covered genius of today just az Gray's
EAAc8y al b OOuAtIy SA0ICAJhK0 1A1-
mortalized the mute. inglorious Mil
tons of his time.
It is Ibsen's theory that much Of the
fame which great men receive IL due
to luck fully as much as to their own
great talent.
mo matter how important q human
being is.'' says 1bsen. 'he cannot force
his way II he lives at the wrong time
and In the wrong place." We know
n1<x>w> 1a1>- 0vya
there were many more Napoleons who
remain unknown to US because the
chance for success did not appear. and
they had to go under in silence and
darkness, It was a pure chance" he
says. that turned Luther from 1ur1s-
prudence to theology and paved the
way for him to become q great religi-
GUS reformer. It was chance that put
Bismarck in q position which enabled
him to stamp German history with his
personality" ',-.s-s
"A human beings advancement. -
says Ibsen, lis conditioned by circum-
stances over which he has no control. -
He eulogizes the great army Of
genuises who have never seen the light
Of eternal fame because they we're un-
lucky. because they lived in wrong
age. or have not had the chance to
give free play to their ability for other
reasons. He says:
Hero worship is, for a large part.
an accommodating Interpretation OF
chance, and the history Of culture, as
well as OF politics, properly viewed il
the saga Of the fortunate. It is the
account of the geniuses and heroes
who did not go to the bottom, of those
VINO were not held down helpless in
narrow circumstances. whom no Illness
or accident swept away to early graves,
whom no youthful folly ruined for life.
1t gives US information about the in
telfgences and the characters whose
activities found opportunities in a land
and In q period which had need of
their powers. of those who got their
chance in those years when their tai
ents were still in bloom, of those whom
circumstances placed In a career which
allowed them to be themselves to the
FULL
This euIogy Of the mass OF geniuses
who never got their chance and I'm
direct detraction from the reputation
wont to defy has stirred the people in
every civilized country. 1t has come
like balsam to the million of men of
ability, of genius, who have been stag
mated or submerged by adverse condi-
TONS by the want Of chance.
The symptoms by which genius, un-
developed or submerged, can be recog-
nfzed are many. Perhaps the most
common symptom is the want of good
sense or common sense. To want
what the great mass calls common
sense is often q most indisputable
symptom of genius. A man may be
dubbed stupid. He may be poor COM
pany, but this often IL due to the fact
that he Is q genius. His mind is pre-
occupied with certain idea which.
because of his lack of education and
opportunities. he is unable to bring out
in the light OF day.
Another common characteristic Of
genius is forgetfulnees. Your wife
may be telling you to make purchase
for her. You promise to do 20. But
You forget it. 1t goes out Of your mind
entirely. A quarrel may result She
| may think that you slight her.. But
you are not sighting her. AS q gen.
ius, though an undeveloped one.