Patience is a necessary ingredient of genius.

Long before serving as the United Kingdom’s two-time prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli had a prolific writing career, releasing several nonfiction books and novels. This quote derives from his 1832 novel “Contarini Fleming: A Psychological Romance.” The namesake protagonist wrestles with his own novel-in-progress while visiting Pisa, Italy. Through the character, Disraeli imparts that brilliance is acquired through tough, time-consuming effort — with an endpoint. “There is a moment when a heavenly light rises over the dim world you have been so long creating, and bathes it with life and beauty,” he wrote. “Accept this omen that your work is good, and revel in the sunshine of composition.” According to “The Guardian,” Disraeli followed his own advice during the next decade, with the publication of his second trilogy. Its middle volume, “Sybil,” is the newspaper’s pick for the eleventh-greatest novel written in English.