Sounds like a perfect example of tunnel vision to me. So the ideas and work of most great thinkers was not understood or accepted in its fullness by everyone while they lived. No shit. The statement that "None of these men were called heroes or geniuses in their time" is outright false in most of the cases, and I severely doubt that JediBix783, had he lived in that time, would have been able to foresee that Newton's work on physics would later be considered more important than his math (which is not necessarily true anyway - Newton invented calculus, after all). Or would have "correctly" interpreted and followed Jesus' message of selflessness.

More fundamentally, the examples prove nothing, they are chosen to fit the theory. For every genius that is wrongfully ignored, there are probably are a hundred or more over-confident fools whore are rightfully ignored because their ideas would be disastrous if implemented. Even if someone's ideas are fundamentally sound, it doesn't mean that they can be implemented immediately, even if everyone agreed.

Sure, someone who never dares to think beyond what others tell him isn't likely to come up with a revolutionary new idea. But at the same time, someone who never listens to any kind of criticism is not likely to produce anything worthwhile either. It's no coincidence that peer review is considered one of the most important functions of the scientific community.

To walk the path of truth, it takes equal doses of self-reliance and self-doubt. Too much of either increases the chances of failure.