It was once said, "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration."
This famous quote was aid by world-renowned inventor Thomas Edison, and personally, I agree with this statement very much. I agree with it because it is completely true. For one to be considered a genius, they need inspiration, but more than that, they need to put their sweat and heart to what they are trying to be.
The first reason as to why I agree with this quote is because if one is not willing to work hard, then he or she does not deserve to be considered a genius, hence the "ninety-nine percent perspiration" part of the quote above. It is like calling that person in the group project that does nothing a genius; they do not work. In addition, if one is not willing to work, then he or she also probably has the people who did other work for them right up their sleeve. In the end, this causes those people to believe that he is lazy and unhelpful.
Now I know the above point is not a very solid one, but think about it. We call Einstein, Darwin, Franklin all geniuses because of the discoveries they made in our world. With those discoveries, we are able to create new ones today. Those three are three of many who have lived through blood, sweat, and tears to help us create the world we live in. I mean, let us be honest; without their discoveries, we would be lost. In their time, everything was everywhere, there were many problems, and the environment was there to prove it. The United States was either in a war or trying to solve a certain problem, but either way, they worked hard in order to find what we know as of today discoveries of geniuses.
The last reason why I agree with this quote is how it defines a person. If someone actually does the ninety-nine percent of sweat then he or she is going to feel good inside, and they are going to want to continue what they are doing instead of look for all the publicity they could potentially get. That is what that one percent of inspiration is, trying to make something in order to help everyone. That is someone I would personally call a big genius.
In the end, Thomas Edison's quote is what I completely agree with when defining genius. I agree with it because it is completely true, and it is what history has shown us. Above, I stated the names of three brilliant scientists, but they are not the only ones. Scientists are not the only geniuses. Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., Sonia Sotomayor: none of these people are scientists, but these are the people who worked incredibly hard to get where the country is and where they are today. Finally, after one has gone through the "ninety-nine percent perspiration", he or she would definitely feel good inside because they just did something in order to make the world a better place.