Quotes About Mastery

I always love being an actor for the simple fact that, whenever you do a job, you have to read a lot of stuff that you've never read before; you explore things, and generally you meet experts in lots of fields, and you get to absorb that information and make it look like you've done it for 20 years.

Badminton court is my territory and that's where I will do most of my talking.

Will you tell me, 'Oh, painting is a special art, whereas anyone can write prose passably well'? Can he, indeed? ... Can you, sir? Nay, believe me, you are either an archangel or a very bourgeois gentleman indeed if you admit to having spoken English prose all your life without knowing it.

The nice thing about the violin repertoire is that it's small enough that you can plan on learning everything at some point - whereas the piano repertoire is so enormous it wouldn't be possible unless you're a learning machine.

More than specific memories of achievements, for me I remember the feeling you get when you were just at your very best - when you felt like you were floating across the court and could put the ball wherever you wanted.

You have to be good wherever the fight goes, and that's how I try to be.

The question I'm always asking myself is: are we masters or victims? Do we make history, or does history make us? Do we shape the world, or are we just shaped by it? The question of do we have agency in our lives or whether we are just passive victims of events is, I think, a great question, and one that I have always tried to ask.

The good life, as it is popularly conceived, typically involves acquiring mastery in one's work, thus gaining for oneself better terms - or means to rewards, whether material, like wealth, or nonmaterial - an experience we may call 'prospering.'

Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability.

Better a little which is well done, than a great deal imperfectly.

The true genius shudders at incompleteness - and usually prefers silence to saying something which is not everything it should be.

I never aspired to be in a band, but being onstage is a very cool feeling. It's like you're the lord of the room. It's hard to croon and run around doing big scissor kicks while also trying to play, though. I'm still mastering that.

When you use the whip, it makes the loudest crack. It's a very, very difficult weapon to use.

You never want to be the one who everyone is going to bust jokes on. The only way to prevent that is to be good at something.

With anything you do and you dedicate yourself to and you dedicate thousands and thousands of hours, eventually you're gonna get a little bit better at it unless there's some innate impairment preventing that.

There is more to the game than hitting it far. There are ways to make birdies other than hitting 350-yard drives. I pride myself on a good short game; I work very hard at it.

My game is kind of built around hitting shots - that's what I take pride in, and it's what separates myself from other guys.

The only prize much cared for by the powerful is power.

I really prize and love great painting.

If you're an old pro, you know how well you're doing when you're doing it, and your inner government spanks you if you're not doing well.

All praise to the masters indeed, but we too could produce a Kant or a Hugo.

You need a lot of effort and talent to produce greatness.

All the albums that I grew up listening to were produced by one person.

I'm used to producing all of my projects, doing all the beats, and writing all the hooks.