When people get to know Yu, they tend to regard him as very Confucian-solemn and serious, not garrulous or humorous. Yet a man of this character writes works that are passionately bold, unrestrained, imposingly vast, and at times imbued with a remarkable sense of humor. These qualities are of course the result of applying his "genius."
初識余光中者都認為他很儒家，端正嚴肅，不茍言笑，這樣的性格寫起文章來卻是奔放熱情，氣勢恢宏，時而挾帶驚人的幽默，這當然是「動用天才」的結果了。