Quotes About Talent

He'd had a real talent, but what was talent without confidence, self-possession, "ownership," as people said, pompously but maybe accurately.

to own only a little talent . . . was an awful, plaguing thing . . . being only a little special meant you expected too much, most of the time. —Mary Robison, "Yours

But what happened to the talented women who lacked sharp cheekbones or an ease in the universe? The ones who had no attachments to powerful men?

What if talent wasn't simply meaningless, but was actually a liability? Did he like her more because she was a bad writer? Did it make him feel safe sliding along the body of a woman who would never be a great challenge to him? Yes, it did.

to own only a little talent . . . was an awful, plaguing thing . . . being only a little special meant you expected too much, most of the time.

When I watch you on the ice...I don't think I have ever seen someone with that kind of talent you have. You can't teach that. The truth is, you're better than any of us. That feeling of proving yourself all the time? Use it. Let it drive you. Accept everything outside your control and go harder. Don't think about tomorrow, just think about right now.

Oh, yes!" said Arianna. "You're really good! One of the best.

Candle needs darkness to show his talents. Good shines only beside the bad; it will disappear when the bad disappears. Where there is no darkness, candle is forgotten.

Elvis Presley once said that I don't know anything about the music. It is because he is the music itself! The nightingales don't know anything about the music!

General Napoleon says that ability is of little account without opportunity. The opposite is also correct: Opportunity is of little account without ability.

On the roads of failure, it is not uncommon to see the tears of the talented; and in the land of success, to hear the victorious screams of the incompetent!

Talent is a firefly; even in a remote dark forest, sooner or later it is caught to an eye.

The probability that a genius can do stupid things is much higher than the probability that a stupid can do genius things.

The world is full up with the talented impersonators of the Devil!

Every human being has hundreds of separate people living under his skin. The talent of a writer is his ability to give them their separate names, identities, personalities and have them relate to other characters living with him.

But let's get back to Melvin Kaminsky.

When Ethel Merman belted out "You're the Top" even though Uncle Joe and I were two miles away in the cheap seats, it was thrilling but maybe a little too loud. What a voice! They said she could hold a note longer than the Chase National Bank.

It's shit punk.[..] That doesn't mean I think punk is shit [...] it means that when someone plays unk ina shit-like manner, it's excruciating. So either find yourself yourself a good punk band or move on, Tom. Because it kills me to say this, but you're actually a tiny bit gifted.

America doesn't reward people of my age, either in day-to-day life or for their performances.

It takes great skill to tell a compelling story in under 60 seconds. These five directors have mastered the format, using their talent, craft and imagination to provide us with some of the most innovative filmmaking out there today.

It's not the instrument that makes the music beautiful - it's the musician.

All kids are gifted; some just open their packages earlier than others.

You need three things to become a successful novelist: talent, luck and discipline. Discipline is the one element of those three things that you can control, and so that is the one that you have to focus on controlling, and you just have to hope and trust in the other two.

Focus, too, on understanding the operating model, planning and performance evaluation systems, and talent management systems, because they often powerfully influence how you can most effectively have an impact.