What did Charles Darwin, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Marcel Proust all have in common? Besides being creative geniuses, they shared an odd quirk: The luminaries were abnormally sensitive to noise, and often required solitude to work.

Proust, for instance, rarely left his one-bedroom apartment in Paris. The reclusive writer wore earplugs while he wrote, kept his blinds drawn and lined his bedroom with cork to filter out unwanted light and noise.

“Easily Distracted By Noise? You Might Just Be A Creative Genius“, Carolyn Gregoire, The Huffington Post.