Did any great genius ever ...

Did any great genius ever enter the world in the wake of commonplace pre-natal conditions? Was a maker of history ever born amidst the pleasant harmonies of a satisfied domesticity? Of a mother who was less than remarkable, although she may have escaped being great? Did a woman with no wildness in her blood ever inform a brain with electric fire? The students of history know that while many mothers of great men have been virtuous, none have been commonplace, and few have been happy.
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 Gertrude Atherton

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The grief of childhood is terrible while it lasts, it is so abandoned and so all-possessing.
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 Gertrude Atherton
Here is a simple recipe to begin with. Get up every morning with the set intention of writing and go to your desk and sit there for three hours, whether you accomplish anything or not. Before long you will find that you are writing madly, not waiting for inspiration.
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 Gertrude Atherton
stoicism is the fundamental characteristic of the French.
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 Gertrude Atherton
The French are a race of individuals. There is no type.
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 Gertrude Atherton
... France is the genius among nations.
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 Gertrude Atherton