Brilliant But Lazy - Television Tropes & Idioms

This troper's mother tells him he is this on a regular basis. I admit to being slightly lazy, but not this at all. This is due to the fact that in eighth grade, my grades dropped to a straight C average because I DID take the time off to be lazy (I still consider large parts of that time as good times) and I have trouble with honors classes. After this, I got almost entirely As (a couple of Bs and one C) the next year. Still nothing because of that one C. This year, I am in one honors and one AP class and am fighting epic struggles with doing all my work for both (I usually get around five hours of sleep a night) but still getting Cs, which I always get in honors classes. My mother still believes I can succeed if I try hard enough, and mentions the example of my neighbor, who is in both and succeeding, and everyone including his mother says I'm smarter (I call bullshit on that one, because I know the guy and he is smart) Due to my refusal to believe this and the fact that instead of blindly accepting, I argue, I've switched from being The Favorite to The Unfavorite in a couple of years (I harbor no bitterness as that just shows the positions are meaningless) Due to the fact that my mother does most of the talking at my annual checkups, my PHYSICIAN is now joining in on the act, telling me to get it together and I can still succeed. I used to like him, but after listening to him and my mother kvetch about me together, I'm slightly irritated to say the least.
- So, you're getting C's on AP courses and have enough trouble with the work that you can only get five hours of sleep, yet you call yourself "brilliant?" And of course you're not bitter, why else would you be bitching about how you're mommy doesn't wuv you any more because your grades are slipping?
- This troper thinks that the above troper is quite mean, and that the aboveabove troper deserves a cookie, and a full nights sleep.
This troper was considered the second coming of the golden child by his parents. He got, quite literally, perfect grades up until the second semester of seventh grade, in which his GPA dropped below a 3.8 for the first time. It wasn't because it was hard; it was because he was lazy, and had recently discovered the internet, anime, and video games. He is still monumentally lazy.
This troper is a Teen Genius who's Wise Beyond Her Years. She has no unusual academic achievements with which to dazzle you, partly because of this trope and partly because she's had problems beyond the scope of this page interfering with school since day one. However, she will slack off instead of doing anything she doesn't want to do, mainly due to laziness (I have a work ethic, but little self-discipline, so I just end up feeling guilty about it rather than changing my ways), and hates schoolwork with a passion because it's so boring and it seems like at least 80% of any given year's material was already covered in previous grades. I never tried to shake up the status quo of "get spoon-fed a bunch of busywork that's so far below my level it's almost an insult to my intelligence", mainly because that would require me to put in effort. The only time I got a grade lower than a B that wasn't because of the previously mentioned problems was in seventh-grade PE, and that was because I skipped class half the time. All I ever did was do the work that was put in front of me, constantly complain about how boring it was, and make a token attempt to study for tests because not studying at all was unthinkable, despite the fact that I didn't actually need to. (The one exception is reading; I love reading. I was reading Lord Of The Rings and Dune when I was nine. That by itself didn't get me anywhere, although I'm sure it was one of several factors that made it clear to my teachers that I had waaay more potential than I was actually using.) So, yeah, pathological laziness. Wow, that was long.
- Wow. I hope to God that this was sarcastic, because you honestly sound very pathetic. So you're a wise genius, yet have no evidence of such other than your own (completely unbiassed) opinion? Ooooookay.
- You are the female version of me.
  - And me.
  - Me too. Are you that female clone I lost?
  - This Troper as well. If this group gets any larger we may have to think about considering forming a group of some kind before vetoing the idea as "too much effort."
- And my soul-sister.
  - I'm trying to decide if I found this page earlier in my life, posted this, and forgot about it.
  - Not unless we're each other's split personalities or something.
  - I'm probably part of this split personality collective too. 2230 on SAT, GPA of 3.0. Me and homework don't work well together.
This Troper has built up a long history of doodling idly and writing stories in lessons, goofing off in all his free time and generally doing nothing, then writing one rushed essay and getting brilliant marks. Frankly, his friends are fed up with it. Personally, I wonder what would happen if I actually did put effort in?
- Probably nothing. That's what happened to This Troper, who is basically the Distaff Counterpart to above troper.
- Almost the same with This Tropette here. Learned to read when was 3, and the did two grades in the following year because she was getting bored in the middle of classes. She does homework once in a century, hates studying, specially by herself, and usually listen to music and draws or writes during classes - to the point one of her teachers noticed that, and recognized her by that fact. Until the end of high school the grades were almost always 8~9/10. Now they're... falling a bit.
This Troper and his sister play this trope in different levels. While his sister is full of creativity, she has always been too lazy to do anything else but watch TV and chat with her friends, earning lots of Fs on school; this troper, on the other hand, has gone from head of his class to brilliant but lazy in a couple of years, mainly because of the realization that being head of the class isn't as self satisfying as he would have wanted.
This Troper was all over that in school, right up until failing A2 Physics due to not memorising the formulas and not understanding quantum mechanics. That lead to Character Development! Sort of. Now he tries hard when he feels the task actually deserves it, right up until he loses interest.
This troper's currently skipping through university the way most smart-but-lazy people do high school. He spent one day preparing for his final exam, and no time at all preparing for any other tests, but still passed them all. His professors ask him for second opinions or if they're in doubt.
This troper can grasp the plot of the most complex TV show on the first viewing, read faster than anyone else she knows, and ace tests she forgot about until she got into class to sit them. But instead of using the first two to become an expert on literature, she uses them to spot plotholes and then complain about them in "Just Bugs Me".
This Troper has certainly been described as such by teachers. Not entirely sure why, considering there's usually 2 or 3 students who do better than I.
This troper figures that this Troper Tales page must not have existed when he last viewed this page, because none of these entries look like his work and this is clearly very much him. He's a math major that has aced his few upper-level math courses at college, but has had to repeatedly retake calculus because after the first time (an AP course in senior year of high school—choked on the AP exam, so couldn't get the college credits), it became too boring to pay attention in class. He only just now got a high enough grade in Calc III to meet the pre-requisite requirement for the next course required for the major—halfway through his junior year.
This troper thinks it's hilarious that this page basically only exists so people can fellate themselves.
- This troper concurs. However, she's still going to add herself, because her ego really does need some damage control right now.
- This Troper also concurs it's self fellation, and finds most of these tales to be pikers in high school at best. This troper extended the brilliant but lazy bit to a physics phd program, where he realized as brilliant but lazy he was, he don't got crap on german professors the same age as the troper who can't teach because it should be obvious. This troper has now dropped out and is law school with an actual work ethic...
This troper (the concurrer above) is a genuine genius child. IQ over 170, hit ceilings on tests ostensibly without ceilings, etc. However, [1], and she has some pretty extreme issues too. In addition to crazy emotional problems, skewed worldviews, skewed self-image, and suchforth, she has an utter inability to concentrate on anything, and is extraordinarily elitist when it comes to what's worth her time. Therefore, she does a lot of lazing around and a lot of writing. Also, she started taking algebra-based calculus at 12. And was teaching an algebra class. And had taught an (albeit short) class on Attic Greek. Et cetera, et cetera. She's just too lazy to do anything she's not forced to. (Yes, she has deep and burning passion buried somewhere within her. However, she represses absolutely everything she considers to be genuinely HER, so that's been locked away for a while.) Therefore, she's done next to nothing with all her talents. Too bad for future employers.
- Wow, you're completely fucked. Better find somebody rich to marry.
Someone in This Troper claims to be this, but is really an idiotic Jerk Ass, granted he knows a fair amount of science facts but the guy is really stupid.
This troper is able to get good grades without trying, has a near genius reading comprehension, and enjoys the philosophical discussions various of my classes have. Yet I hardly ever read the needed material or bother to actually study. Though everyone thinks I do(because of my grades and quiet attitude), with the exception of a few friends and my parents who know how lazy I am.
- Same troper. I recently decided to take one of those online IQ tests. I got bored about half-way and stopped trying; I'm that lazy.
  - This is the funniest thing I have seen all day. Honestly, you got bored with an online IQ test and you think that makes you special? Wow.
This troper refuses to study at all, and has never studied once in her life; even though, her grades are rather good (70
Though not as smart as some of the others on this page, this troper does qualify a bit. Let's put it this way: He's never gotten a proper reading on an IQ test, official or not, because he gets bored halfway through and starts guessing.
- They actually accurately measure that tendency on most modern IQ/Personality tests (hint: It's a bad thing).
I won't, as one person put it, fellate myself. But I will say that I have a problem with laziness despite being gifted (fine I won't do it too hard). I find that leaving my house to do hw, I do lots of hw in the office of one of the bars I work at but sometimes thats not an option since a bunch of my projects require programs that the owner wouldn't want me installing on his machine, and for some reason repeating the Litany Against Fear from Dune helps get me motivated.
This troper too. IQ in the 160s, used to have a reading speed over twice that of the rest of his class, and passed most tests up until the second year of university without even bothering to revise... but from then on kind of lost interest and had difficulties even concentrating on coursework for more than a few minutes at a time.
This troper is an intelligent person who usually does well in tests, but he often has a hard time getting things started (he keeps telling himself that he can do it tomorrow) and can rarely concentrate on studying for periods longer than an hour at once.
This troper is definitely lazy, but he isn't quite sure if he's really that smart or if he just has a superlative talent for standardized tests.
This troper was tested for a 136 IQ when he was 5 (6?), and just started getting above a 3.0 when he entered high school due to a plethora of reasons (mostly being threatened by parents, who says tough love doesn't work?).
This troper isn't a super genius like some people here, but he is a Manipulative Bastard (without the "bastard" part), and could pass every class he has with at least a 8,5 if he really tried. Of course, I have the most important physics test of my life tommorow (I HATE physics, math, and etc.), and I'm here writing on TV Tropes about how goddamn lazy I am.
This troper can consistently get at least a B on his work and discuss various subjects relevant to today's society. But he would rather sit in front of the computer screen 18 hours a day.
- So, you are not particularly bright and are absorbed with your own self-importance. You fit right in here, at least you have that much.
This troper's grades throughout school and university were a reflection of how much the grade depended on exams and small assignments, as opposed to how much depended on assignments too big to do during commercial breaks the night before. Well, they also depended on how much the exams depended on understanding (which I was good at) as opposed to rote memorisation (which would require studying). Despite a passion for computer programming, I never wrote a program that took more than a week to write – until my PhD, which is now overdue by more time than it was supposed to take in the first place. But since September of last year (2008, in case I don't update this) I've been trying to train myself to work harder, and it was working until the new year. But then in quick succession I (a) had a guest stay for a week, (b) moved, and (c) got a USB TV tuner and some software that made it ''really'' easy to record TV shows for later viewing. I hope that won't turn out to be a Reset Button on my Character Development. *sigh* If only Montages happened in Real Life...
- Oh, and in response to the autofellatio statement above: Watch this space. I plan to get my PhD, and then update this into an inspirational story, with An Aesop about Character Development. And, eventually, possibly a Family Unfriendly Aesop about the benefits of yoga.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is me. Certain, in fact.
Troper here doesn't like to brag or anything, but to be fair, she always had really high grades until the last year in High School, without needing to study or do homework (which was the worst habit she got). Just paying attention on everything the teachers said. Also, she had a lot of absences, only going to classes to not fail by absence. Also, she despised PE with all her heart. But then, it was justified, since she was the Butt Monkey of the class, and got constantly bullied by everybody since the very first day. Specially in PE. When she wants, she can be one hell of a workaholic. It's all about the way people treat her.
- Actually, you do like to brag.
- This Troper wonders if you're another version of herself.
  - Probably not, but are you pudgy/fat, short (5'1), raven-haired, freckled, and uses glasses? If so, I suspect there are cloning experiences out there...

Now, let me rest my fingers, typing everything at once makes them tired.

This troper is suspected of being brilliant but lazy by nearly all of her friends. The lazy part is correct. The brilliant part is not. It's amazing how often people will mistake a large vocabulary and knowledge of obscure subjects for actual intelligence.
People keep informing this troper that he is this. But the concept lost all its novelty a few years back. And people have given up trying to convince him to actually put effort into things. So, it's the terrible fate known as Second Honors for me...
In the words of this Tropette's teacher, "I've never seen someone try so little and excel so much." Cheers.
This Troper has been repeatedly told by almost all his teachers that he could excel at almost any subject if he tried, "almost" meaning PE excluded. He has never really believed it, and because of personal issues through his life has never been able to care.
I have been accused of embodying this trope on several occasions. Since elaborating would count as autofellatio, I'll refrain. I will say, however, that I walked out on a full-ride scholarship to Yale to become an electrician.
This troper never once started a single essay, project, or report earlier than the evening before the day it was due. The teachers often warned us that if we waited until the last week, let alone the last day, we didn't have the slightest hope of even getting C's. Some went so far as to say that we wouldn't even pass. Guess who always got A's, if not perfect scores.
This troper is more lazy then brilliant. Seriously, I am quite possibly the laziest bum you have ever seen. I'm not exactly a genius, but people have for the longest time told me I was a really good writer. I plan to start writing stuff soon. Eventually. Someday. Maybe.
This troper is lazy yet intelligent enough to get 90% on every academic subject with very little effort. He never studies for anything, does all his work in class and never brings any he doesn't home, and generally doesn't do any real work on projects. The only reason he actually does his work (in class) is because he usually forgets his books at home, so there's nothing better to do. He'd skip class, but there's nowhere to actually go, except the library, where someone would probably send him back to school anyway. The only real reasons he even goes to school are because it's the law, his parents want him to, and band class. Honestly, I'd be content to work at Chapters for my whole life...
This troper's electronics professor was fond of stating that all brilliant engineering comes from an engineer looking at a process and saying, "There has to be a way to do this without working so hard." His primary example was the evaluation of circuit equations. By itself, it's a differential equation. Using La Place transforms, you change it to multiplication. Using Fourier Transforms, you change it to addition. The problem is, as engineers, we'll spend more time finding out how to make things easy than it would to solve the problem. Which, of course, emphasizes the need for good documentation and repeatable processes...
This troper annoys his school teachers by not showing up for half the classes, not working in the classes he shows up for, not revising and then getting an A or above in every subject.
This troper has gotten to the point where his laziness is now going to seriously hinder him from succeeding. There is a ceiling, folks! It's called college. Learn from my mistakes.
- Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you for being the first reasonable and intelligent person so far on this page! Honestly, I had just about given up on humanity. Listen, folks: Natural talent will only get you so far. At a certain point (probably around college admissions, actually), you really are going to have to start working to get good grades, and you need to develop good study habits soon, even if you can get by without them for now.
That's a confusing subject for This Troper. Said troper's mother said many times that this troper is brillant but lazy, and anything he does would be done better if he put more effort behind it. The lazy part is true, but I don't believe on the brillant part. In fact, I consider myself as dumb idiot and a clueless moron who also has negative self-steem. My father disagrees with the last sentence, and adds that "You need to stop putting that on your mind, I have depression but you're actually more depressive than me." Said troper considers both his parents hopeless optimists and "Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment" is pretty much his unspoken motto.
This troper could have had a rather good chance of getting into Brown University (was recommended due to them having less GPA emphasis than others), but goes to a local (still good, but not on that level) college because he never filled out the applications - they were on his desk for months.
- Oh, and I will also spend time to fully investigate my potential classes and teachers beforehand, explicitly so I won't have to do homework, which I never do despite understanding content far better than most people in my classes. It's just a waste of effort, time, and sanity do do the same damn thing so repetitively like that. He breezes through college classes with minimal effort and gets A's - B's (a few C's, but those are seriously (I swear!) more due to crappy teachers that screwed a lot of students over with their methods).
This troper went to a selective school where even the stoners and slackers all had genius level I Qs which would lead to several strange moments where the people at the top of the class were half hard working over achievers and half people who sat at the back of the class staring out the window. I was one of the latter but was only top in physics.
I would add myself to the list if I could even get my hand off the mouse. Oh wait.
This Troper has a tendency to do relatively little work or study, and when back in secondary school, rarely did any homework or assignments. It means that he generally does badly on tests unless they really matter. This is largely due to a combination of laziness, an inability to conceive of such work as being worth the time and effort (since there is no immediate benefit but praise, which has long since been rendered worthless), and being easily distractable (or, more accurately, having an incredible ability to focus, but little control of what to focus on). Nevertheless, he is able to talk at length and in great detail about complex subjects, which make it clear he does understand and is passionate about his studies, the rare homework and assignments he produced were apparently very good, and if a test was truly important, he would often ace it effortlessly. This has caused most of this Troper's teachers to regard him as a brilliant underachiever. Apparently, this is a problem for many people with Asperger's syndrome, of which this Troper is one.
This Troper gets this a lot from his parents, but can admit that they're right, since he did well on his SATs but couldn't be bothered to do better than middling in high school and dropped out of college because several of his classes (I'm looking at you, Anthropology) were so damn dull.
This Troper is probably going to be expelled from university because he overestimated his intelectual prowess. Of course, the staff kept telling him he could easily be a top student IF he were to work a bit. But This Troper didn't really pay attention, so yeah...
This Troper is at risk of failing her university degree (in what is a particularly labour intensive course) in the final year because she just can't bring herself to try as hard as she possibly could. This is a combination of the fact that she just wants to be doing other stuff half the time and the fact that the idea of failing when you've tried your hardest is scary, man.
This troper managed to get through elementary and middle school with no effort at all, which is exactly why she never developed the habit of studying regularly. And now, since the amount of work I'm willing to put into something depends on how interesting I find it, some of my teachers think I'm some sort of genius and others wonder what the hell I'm doing at a university.
- Sounds familiar. Apparently that's a common phenomenon.
This Troper has been called this too many times to count. Subverted in that she condiders herself to be clever-ish, at best. She agrees with the 'lazy' part, though.
This Troper is often considered the smartest guy in his class by his teammates, but is nowadays shunned for not doing any work even if a group is depending on it. Like I'm doing right now, normalizing is drag. Screw this project. (Though if my entry is deleted again, I'll not by lazy about tracking down the culprit)
This troper's Government teacher had a roommate in college who sailed through graduate school. Case in point: One in the morning on the day the paper was due (the class started in seven hours), said roommate began typing her paper up after returning from a party. Everyone else in the class had started their own papers weeks earlier and were now agonizing over the final details. Oh, and this was back when everyone used typewriters, and it was something like a fifty-page essay. The roommate was one of two people who got an 'A' out of the entire class.
Senioritis at This Troper's school. 'Nuff said.
This troper constantly pisses off his friends like this. One of them tries really hard and got a 3.8 GPA for a semester, while I constantly did not do homework and managed to get a 4.3 GPA due to getting A's on pretty much all my finals.
Consider my ass bitten. Ugh.
- HAHAHA! I did it! I won! Take that, college! I, I... It is sleepies time now... *clunk*
This troper became an honor student in grade twelve after doing almost no work at all. Even in university, he still slacks off MUCH more than his friends, and is still doing quite well for himself thankyouverymuch. '
This Troper used to fit this trope pretty well, with the addition of being afflicted with mild dyslexia and severe depression. Now I work very hard every day. On housework. Which doesn't exactly require much intellect. I'm not sure if I count anymore, but I still don't study, and I still hear people constantly telling me how smart I am.
This troper possesses a great degree of trivial knowledge but is not really a very good academic and often gets mistaken for being Brilliant But Lazy, but in fact is merely the latter. He doesn't want to be seen as lazy, but he doesn't want to be seen as brilliant either! Failure Is The Only Option.

Drag yourself back to Brilliant But Lazy, if you can muster the effort.

Brief Accent Imitation

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