All these quotes from German Philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer suggests that he to might’ve been on the autistic Spectrum…
“A man of genius can hardly be sociable, for what dialogues could indeed be so intelligent and entertaining as his own monologues?”
“Nature shows that with the growth of intelligence comes increased capacity for pain, and it is only with the highest degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point.”
“Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude.”
“Vulgar people take huge delight in the faults and follies of great men.”
“There is in the world only the choice between loneliness and vulgarity. All young people should be taught now to put up with loneliness ... because the less man is compelled to come into contact with others, the better off he is.”
“Intellect is a magnitude of intensity, not a magnitude of extensity.”
“To be alone is the fate of all great minds—a fate deplored at times, but still always chosen as the less grievous of two evils.”
“Any foolish boy can stamp on a beetle, but all the professors in the world cannot make a beetle.”
“Men of learning are those who have read the contents of books. Thinkers, geniuses, and those who have enlightened the world and furthered the race of men, are those who have made direct use
of the book of the world.”
“Every child is in a way a genius; and every genius is in a way a child.”
“Life is neither to be wept over nor to be laughed at but to be understood.”
“With people of limited ability modesty is merely honesty. But with those who possess great talent it is hypocrisy.”
“What now on the other hand makes people sociable is their incapacity to endure solitude and thus themselves.”
“Many undoubtedly owe their good fortune to the circumstance that they possess a pleasing smile with which they win hearts. Yet these hearts would do better to beware and to learn from Hamlet's tables that one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.”
“Ignorance is degrading only when found in company with great riches.”
“The common man is not concerned about the passage of time, the man of talent is driven by it.”
“Martyrdom is the only way a man can become famous without ability.”
“A man of correct insight among those who are duped and deluded resembles one whose watch is right while all the clocks in the town give the wrong time.”
“A man of talent will strive for money and reputation; but the spring that moves genius to the production of its works is not as easy to name.”
“The greatest intellectual capacities are only found in connection with a vehement and passionate will.”
“Great minds are related to the brief span of time during which they live as great buildings are to a little square in which they stand: you cannot see them in all their magnitude because you are standing too close to them.”
“Every genius is a great child; he gazes out at the world as something strange, a spectacle, and therefore with purely objective interest.”
“The intellectual attainments of a man who thinks for himself resemble a fine painting, where the light and shade are correct, the tone sustained, the colour perfectly harmonised; it is true to life. On the other hand, the intellectual attainments of the mere man of learning are like a large palette, full of all sorts of colours, which at most are systematically arranged, but devoid of harmony, connection and meaning.”
“And then, again, the more distinctly a man knows, the more intelligent he is, the more pain he has; the man who is gifted with genius suffers most of all.”
“To be alone is the fate of all great minds.”
“A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free.”
“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”