Gradual preparation with sudden illumination, dogged work with a "eureka" experience, perspiration with inspiration-whichever pair of contrasts one prefers-are defining features of creative breakthroughs in any domain of science or art. "Before the gates of Excellence the high gods have placed sweat", said an unnamed ancient Greek poet, probably Hesiod. In Thomas Edison's much-quoted remark, from around 1903, "Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration." Another version of this idea, attributed to George Bernard Shaw, alters the proportions to "ninety per cent perspiration, ten per cent inspiration".
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