Quotes about talent

"Talent isn't genius, and no amount of energy can make it so. I want to be great, or nothing. I won't be a commonplace dauber, so I don't intend to try any more."

Alcott, Louisa May on talent   

"I believe that every person is born with talent."

Angelou, Maya on talent
7 fans of this quote   

"It takes little talent to see clearly what lies under one's nose, a good deal of it to know in which direction to point that organ."

Auden, W. H. on talent
3 fans of this quote   

"There are two kinds of talent, man-made talent and God-given talent. With man-made talent you have to work very hard. With God-given talent, you just touch it up once in a while."

Bailey, Pearl on talent
3 fans of this quote   

"Talent is only the starting point."

Berlin, Irving on talent
5 fans of this quote   

"A man gift will make a way for him."

Bible on talent   

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, I used everything you gave me.."

Bombeck, Erma on talent
5 fans of this quote   

"Middle age snuffs out more talent than even wars or sudden death does."

Brenan, Gerald on talent   

"If I have any talent at all it's from God, and my mom, who was on Capitol Records also."

Brooks, Garth on talent   

"Your talent is God's gift to you; what you do with it is your gift to God."

Buscaglia, Leo on talent
18 fans of this quote   

"Whom the gods wish to destroy they first call promising."

Connolly, Cyril on talent   

"A talent somewhat above mediocrity, shrewd and not too sensitive, is more likely to rise in the world than genius."

Cooley, Charles Horton on talent   

"Ordinary people think that talent must be always on its own level and that it arises every morning like the sun, rested and refreshed, ready to draw from the same storehouse -- always open, always full, always abundant -- new treasures that it will heap up on those of the day before; such people are unaware that, as in the case of all mortal things, talent has its increase and decrease, and that independently of the career it takes, like everything that breathes... it undergoes all the accidents of health, of sickness, and of the dispositions of the soul -- its gaiety or its sadness. As with our perishable flesh. talent is obliged constantly to keep guard over itself, to combat, and to keep perpetually on the alert amid the obstacles that witness the exercise of its singular power."

Delacroix, Eugene on talent   

"Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius."

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan on talent   

"Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best."

Dyke, Henry Van on talent
6 fans of this quote   

"God doesn't give people talents that he doesn't want people to use."

Eagle, Iron on talent
5 fans of this quote   

"Every man has his own vocation, talent is the call."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on talent   

"It is a happy talent to know how to play."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on talent   

"Talent alone cannot make a writer. There must be a man behind the book; a personality which, by birth and quality, is pledged to the doctrines there set forth, and which exists to see and state things so, and not otherwise."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on talent   

"Talent for talent's sake is a bauble and a show. Talent working with joy in the cause of universal truth lifts the possessor to new power as a benefactor."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on talent
3 fans of this quote   

"Talent is commonly developed at the expense of character."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on talent
3 fans of this quote   

"No one respects a talent that is concealed."

Erasmus, Desiderius on talent   

"Concealed talent brings no reputation."

Erasmus, Desiderius on talent   

"Talents go by nature not by birth."

Frederick The Great, (Frederick II) on talent   

"The most gifted natures are perhaps also the most trembling."

Gide, Andre on talent   

"Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on talent
4 fans of this quote   

"A really great talent finds its happiness in execution."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on talent   

"Talent is an amalgam of high sensitivity; easy vulnerability; high sensory equipment (seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting -- intensely); a vivid imagination as well as a grip on reality; the desire to communicate one's own experience and sensations, to make one's self heard and seen."

Hagen, Uta on talent   

"Hard work without talent is a shame, but talent without hard work is a tragedy."

Half, Robert on talent
10 fans of this quote   

"We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. But it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own talents."

Hoffer, Eric on talent
4 fans of this quote   

"If you have this enormous talent, it's got you by the balls, it's a demon. You can't be a family man and a husband and a caring person and be that animal. Dickens wasn't that nice a guy."

Hoffman, Dustin on talent   

"There is no substitute for talent. Industry and all the virtues are of no avail."

Huxley, Aldous on talent   

"Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads."

Jong, Erica on talent
4 fans of this quote   

"The great rule: If the little bit you have is nothing special in itself, at least find a way of saying it that is a little bit special."

Lichtenberg, Georg C. on talent   

"Use those talents you have. You will make it. You will give joy to the world. Take this tip from nature: The woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except those who sang best."

Meltzer, Bernard on talent   

"Genius does what it must, and Talent does what it can."

Meredith, Owen on talent   

"The American white man (not to speak of the Indian, the Negro, the Mexican) hasn't a ghost of a chance. If he has any talent he's doomed to have it crushed one way or another. The American way is to seduce a man by bribery and make a prostitute of him. Or else to ignore him, starve him into submission and make a hack of him."

Miller, Henry on talent
3 fans of this quote   

"This is how I define talent; it is a gift that God has given us in secret, which we reveal without knowing it."

Montesquieu, Charles De on talent   

"Hidden talent counts for nothing."

Nero on talent   

"He had a lot of talent, but didn't have much dedication, wasn't organized, didn't know how to learn, didn't know how to comprehend what he was doing, didn't try to learn how to get better."

Nicklaus, Jack on talent