40 Geniuses Who Had Quirky Habits They Couldn't Live Without
If you picked up some unusual work-from-home habits during your year of coronavirus quarantine, you're in good company — the world's brightest and most productive minds have equally strange habits. We're talking weird, like keeping a drawer full of apples, or pouring pitchers of water over their heads to think better. And if Maya Angelou, Nikola Tesla, and Andy Warhol can be successful doing stuff like this, you can feel a little less guilty about staying in those pajama pants all day.
40. Ludwig van Beethoven
The water-over-the-head guy was Beethoven; he'd write sporadically between multiple trips to and from his washstand, and hey, if it worked, it worked. He was going deaf, after all — he didn't have time to worry about the water dripping through his floorboards down into the neighbor's apartment. The landlord gave up fighting with him and ended up just sealing Beethoven's floor over with concrete.
39. Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie was a pacer: she hated staying in one place while writing, and wrote whenever the mood struck, no matter whatever else she was doing. She always used a typewriter, and often started writing the murder scenes first, before she even knew what the plot would be. Her strategy was effective: she wrote 66 detective books alone.
38. Thomas Alva Edison
We've all met those people who insist sleep is a waste of time. Edison was that guy, and he was kind of annoying about it — he lauded his power naps, and he enjoyed being perceived by other people as "superior" for not needing the normal human amount of rest. In other quirky habits, he refused to hire anyone who seasoned their soup before tasting it first.
37. Andy Warhol
Most folks know he loved Campbell's soup — not only did he paint it, but he regularly ate it straight from the can — but Warhol had another, bigger, secret to standing out. He routinely dyed his hair gray, starting at age 23. Why? He wanted the esteem and the excuses that people automatically make for older folks. "When you’ve got gray hair, every move you make seems ‘young’ and ‘spry,’ instead of just being normally active,” he said.
