Summary: <p>Listen to episode 229 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Am I a Genius? | How the Successful Succeed. Edited and adapted from A Book of Cheerful Counsel by Nixon Waterman, published in 1909.</p><br> <p><strong>Inspirational Podcast Excerpt</strong>: <em>Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. I’d like to start today by thanking some of our new patrons, including Margo Blake, Anna Rido Suico, Otis Irvine, and Philip Dvil. When you become a patron of our podcast, you receive exclusive access to all of the transcripts in our podcast archive, as well as access to the patron series Our Sunday Talks — and it costs as little as 3$ month. Learn more at LivingHour.org/patron. </em></p><br> <p><em>Now, on to today’s reading, which was edited and adapted from A Book of Cheerful Counsel by Nixon Waterman, published in 1909. </em></p><br> <p><em>"AM I A GENIUS?" "You hope, and perchance believe, no doubt, that when you have a full opportunity to show the world what sort of timber you are made of that people will look upon you as being a (quote) "genius." Almost every person cherishes some such aspiration. And why not? Such a trend of thought is to be encouraged. It is proper and commendable. We would all be geniuses if we could. The world admires a genius. If you are the genuine article, it seeks your autograph, prints your picture in books and magazines, and when you pass away it is likely to build a monument over your remains. </em></p><br> <p><em>Can we all be geniuses? Some say we can and some say we cannot. Some say geniuses are born and some say they are self-made. When Thomas Edison, the famous inventor, was asked for his definition of genius he answered: "Two per cent is genius and ninety-eight per cent is hard work.” </em></p><br> <p><em>This definition of genius quite agrees with that given by the American statesman, Alexander Hamilton, who said: "All the genius I have lies in just this: When I have a subject in hand, I study it profoundly. Day and night it is before me. I explore it in all its bearings; my mind becomes pervaded with it. Then the effort which I eventually make, the people are pleased to call genius. It is the fruit of labor and thought."</em></p>
