The genius of knowing what to ignore...............

 Einstein reportedly once said that his own major scientific talent was his ability to look at an enormous number of experiments and journal articles, select the very few that were both right and important, ignore the rest, and build a theory on the right ones.  In that assessment of his own abilities, Einstein was very likely overly modest.  But part of his genius was an instinct for what mattered and the ability to pursue it vertically and connect it horizontally.

-John M. Barry, The Great Influenza:  The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History