Quotes About Talent

I just always wanted to play guitar. I though that was, like, really dope. And then in high school, I learned how to play trumpet and, like, French horn because if the instrument's right in front of me, I'm going to just teach myself.

My father was incredible on trumpet and played with the likes of Duke Ellington and Count Basie.

Because of my register, Miles Davis' trumpet playing has always been a big influence on my singing. I've always been intrigued by the way he can start anywhere and make it right.

I started on the clarinet. I was going to a music school - my mother took me - and the guy said, 'What do you want to play?' I said the drums, and my mother said, 'No, you don't. You don't want to play the drums.' So I said, 'Maybe the trumpet would be cool.' And my mother said, 'I don't think so.' And then the clarinet was handed to me.

My parents pushed me toward trombone because they didn't need another trumpet player.

I can play anything - piano, drums, guitar, harp - I can even play a trumpet through another trumpet.

I was trying to become a legitimate trumpet player, and I had a scholarship to Eastman School of Music. I was really on my way. But I didn't take the scholarship. I got sidetracked, because when summers came around, I started playing with a rock-and-roll band.

The great thing about a big studio movie is that you get to work with the best, the most talented craft people in the world. But you have to be able to communicate, trust, and empower everybody.

For the outside world, it may seem easy to enter into the industry if you belong to a film family, but, trust me, it's even harder, as you have to not only prove your talent but also carve your own niche and identity.

You automatically are trusting because not only is the person a friend, they are so incredibly gifted that you know someone is going to be able to hit the ball back to you across the net.

Shadowing is really a great way to learn how the entire TV-making mechanism works. I had the distinct pleasure of shadowing the gifted and talented Allison Anders, who taught me a great deal about the importance of collaboration and trusting the talent around you.

You have to strike a balance between imprinting the film with your voice, and trusting these amazing, talented people you've hired to do great work.

I can do more than just stand-up comedy, and the only way I'll be able to show that is if I do it myself. Because nobody trusts that I can do it.

I try not to pay attention to talk of comparisons. I only want to focus on myself. It is good to hear that people are talking like that, but the truth is I am not at Cruyff's level of talent, and I never will be, so it is not something I think about.

The truth is that throughout my careers in both chess and the martial arts, I often knew that my rivals were more naturally gifted than me - either with their mental machines or their bodies. But I have believed in my training, my approach to learning, and my ability to rise to the challenge under pressure.

The truth is, the difference between a studio photographer and a photojournalist is the same as the difference between a political cartoonist and an abstract painter; the only thing the two have in common is the blank page. The jobs entail different talents and different desires.

I had the question asked of me before, 'What do you like better: singing or playing guitar?' If I'm gonna be totally truthful, if that microphone's in my hand, I'm loving it. When the guitar's in my hand, I'm a little nervous, but I'm still loving it.

As an actor, I think most people have a tendency to want to demonstrate that they can act, they can emote.

So many of these comics are just frustrated singers or actors - they want to get a gig doing a sitcom. It's paint-by-the-numbers comedy, lame joke-telling. They're drawn to it as a career move.

Everyone wants to work with the big new producer or the hot new singer. The key is to find them before they're hot.

I'm not the kind of coach who just goes out and buys players for the sake of it. I'm a coach who wants to - and can - improve players.

Natural abilities can almost compensate for the want of every kind of cultivation, but no cultivation of the mind can make up for the want of natural abilities.

I always try to write a song, I never just want to write a record. Originally I was not writing songs for myself. Songwriting is my gift from God.

I don't consider myself a skilled enough instrumentalist to be able to create the atmosphere that I want with just my guitar by myself.