I have a daily quote widget in my iGoogle personalized homepage, and while I don’t pay attention to it every day, it’s good to know that it’s there whenever I’m looking for a little insight, a little inspiration, or perhaps a good chuckle. One of the quotes that I read today is particularly profound, so I thought I’d share it with you guys today.

“Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.

This was said by German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, who lived from 1788 to 1860. Schopenhauer spent most of his academic career critiquing the views and works of Immanuel Kant, another well-known German philosopher. Reading through his biography on Wikipedia, I learned that Schopenhauer is partly (wholly?) responsible for the concept of will or “will to live”. The human species is fueled by desire and this drives our human experience.

Anyways, getting back to the quote, I think it clearly illustrates the critical difference between simple talent and genius. We could say that Roberto Luongo is talented, because of his exceptional skill on the ice. We could say that many top athletes and high-ranking corporate executives are talented, because they have managed to achieve so much in their careers, but they are all vying for the same goals, the same targets as many of us are. They’re just better at hitting that target.

By contrast, you can look at who we consider to be geniuses. Revolutionary figures like Albert Einstein and even Steve Jobs can be considered geniuses, because they were approaching targets that many of us did not even know existed. Charles Darwin is perhaps another example, because no one else even considered the possibility of evolution. These are innovators and people who see what the rest of us do not see.

There’s nothing wrong with being “just” talented. But it’s better to be a genius.