I remember seeing, in one of the comments to one of the top-voted questions here, or on MO, a link to a paper.
It contained, in addition to other things, a part about the dangers of doing mathematics. The gist of it was that once in a while, the giants came around (Gauss etc) and gave you a few awe-inspiring gems, and then the rest of the mathematicians just 'filled up the gaps'.
I cannot, however, find it now. Can someone help?
It sounds like you're thinking of The Emotional Perils of Mathematics by Donald Weidman.