“It takes a lot of time to be a genius, you have to sit around so much doing nothing, really doing nothing.”

— Gertrude Stein, Everybody's Autobiography (1937), Ch. 2

About Gertrude Stein

1874 – 1946

American writer and art collector who lived in Paris, author of 'The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas' and 'Paris France'.

“The family is always the family but during vacations it is an extended family and that is exhausting.”

“One does not get better but different and older and that is always a pleasure.”

“It is always a mistake to be plain-spoken.”

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

“He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”