But how great a variation?
And in what direction ?--these are the questions.
The great variations found in the criminal by heredity, the insane, the idiotic, etc., we have found excluded from society; so we may well ask why the genius is not excluded also.

If our determination of the limits within which society decides who is to be excluded is correct, then the genius must come within these limits.

He can not escape them and live socially.
_The Intelligence of the Genius._--The directions in which the genius actually varies from the average man are evident as a matter of fact.
He is, first of all, a man of great power of thought, of great "constructive imagination," as the psychologists say.

So let us believe, first, that a genius is a man who has occasionally greater thoughts than other men have.

Is this a reason for excluding him from society?
Certainly not; for by great thoughts we mean true thoughts, thoughts which will work, thoughts which will bring in a new area in the discovery of principles, or of their application.