Quotes and Sayings about Talent
"Your talent is your art. It is not to be taken for granted."
- Paula Abdul
(Related: Art, Talent)
"Five guys on the court working together can achieve more than five talented individuals who come and go as individuals."
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
(Related: Court)
"Genius is the talent for seeing things straight."
- Maude Adams
(Related: Talent, Genius)
"A just and reasonable modesty does not only recommend eloquence, but sets off every great talent which a man can be possessed of."
- Joseph Addison
(Related: Talent, Eloquence, Man, Modesty)
"There is no such thing as talent. There is pressure."
- Alfred Adler
(Related: Talent, Pressure)
"Your talent is in your choice."
- Stella Adler
(Related: Talent, Choice)
"I just feel like sometimes I'm a force to be dealt with. My talents are sometimes overused and also sometimes underused. It's not easy being me."
- Ben Affleck
(Related: Being, Force)
"I don't have any focus groups on talent and programming. If I need five people in a mall to be paid $40 to tell me how to do my job, I shouldn't do my job."
- Roger Ailes
(Related: Talent, People, Focus, Job, Programming)
"There is a human capital crisis in the federal government. Not only are we losing the decades of talent as civil servants retire, we are not doing enough to develop and nurture the next generation of public servants."
- Daniel Akaka
(Related: Government, Talent, Crisis, Losing, Public)
"It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious young men and women."
- Louisa May Alcott
(Related: Men, Time, Women, Talent, Genius, People, Difference)
"You have a good many little gifts and virtues, but there is no need of parading them, for conceit spoils the finest genius. There is not much danger that real talent or goodness will be overlooked long, and the great charm of all power is modesty."
- Louisa May Alcott
(Related: Power, Talent, Genius, Charm, Conceit, Danger, Gifts, Goodness, Modesty, Will)
"Conceit spoils the finest genius. There is not much danger that real talent or goodness will be overlooked long; even if it is, the consciousness of possessing and using it well should satisfy one, and the great charm of all power is modesty."
- Louisa May Alcott
(Related: Power, Talent, Genius, Charm, Conceit, Consciousness, Danger, Goodness, Modesty, Will)
"I feel that the work that I have done in the comedy arena, is priceless in terms of what I learned, timing, everything that these incredibly talented performers were generous enough in teaching me."
- Khandi Alexander
(Related: Work, Comedy, Teaching)
"Ed Sullivan will be around as long as someone else has talent."
- Fred Allen
(Related: Talent, Will)
"The talent for being happy is appreciating and liking what you have, instead of what you don't have."
- Woody Allen
(Related: Talent, Being)
"Success is what you do with your ability. It's how you use your talent."
- George Allen, Sr.
(Related: Success, Talent, Ability)
"Our industry has invested so much money in technology that perhaps it's time to invest in talent, in people."
- Christiane Amanpour
(Related: Money, Technology, Time, Talent, People)
"To do easily what is difficult for others is the mark of talent. To do what is impossible for talent is the mark of genius."
- Henri Frederic Amiel
(Related: Talent, Genius)
"Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you."
- Henri Frederic Amiel
(Related: Work, Talent, Light)
"Doing easily what others find difficult is talent; doing what is impossible for talent is genius."
- Henri Frederic Amiel
(Related: Talent, Genius)
"I went to the High School for Performing Arts, and to Howard University on a talent scholarship."
- Anthony Anderson
(Related: Talent, School, University)
"Some of these guys... I've worked with Ice Cube, I think he's an immensely talented rapper and actor."
- Anthony Anderson
(Related: Actor)
"If you respect the art and you have some talent about you, I'm on your team."
- Anthony Anderson
(Related: Art, Talent, Respect)
"The talent for discovering the unique and marketable characteristics of a product and service is a designer's most valuable asset."
- Primo Angeli
(Related: Talent, Service)
"I believe that every person is born with talent."
- Maya Angelou
(Related: Talent)
"Children's talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives."
- Maya Angelou
(Related: Talent, Children, Ignorance)
"I had this talent for these stupid little teenage songs."
- Paul Anka
(Related: Talent, Songs, Teenage)
"Sometimes you're trapped in writing songs and you don't have enough distance from what you do anymore and you need the talent and the years of other people to come and jump in."
- Keren Ann
(Related: Talent, People, Songs, Writing, Years)
"Talent is like a faucet, while it is open, one must write."
- Jean Anouilh
(Related: Talent, Open)
"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."
- Michael Apted
(Related: Imagination, Talent, Skill, Today)
"Yes, but the great thing about all the people - and I don't think there is any exception - who I've worked with is they've all been very, very talented musicians."
- Joan Armatrading
(Related: People, Musicians)
"That is one of the things about going on tour, that I get to work with some really talented people and it allows me to be able to listen to them as well - and just have fun on stage."
- Joan Armatrading
(Related: Work, People, Fun)
"In the time one is given, the steward must make the most of the talents one is given by the Lord."
- Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
(Related: Time)
"Those who are blessed with the most talent don't necessarily outperform everyone else. It's the people with follow-through who excel."
- Mary Kay Ash
(Related: Talent, People)
"Another thing that's pathetic is this rule that you have to look ugly to get respect as an actress. Jessica Lange had to make herself look really bad to prove that she had amazing talent."
- Kevyn Aucoin
(Related: Talent, Respect, Ugly)
"It takes little talent to see what lies under one's nose, a good deal to know in what direction to point that organ."
- W. H. Auden
(Related: Talent, Direction, Lies)
"Motivation will almost always beat mere talent."
- Norman Ralph Augustine
(Related: Motivation, Talent, Will)
"It is happy for you that you possess the talent of flattering with delicacy. May I ask whether these pleasing attentions proceed from the impulse of the moment, or are they the result of previous study?"
- Jane Austen
(Related: Talent, May, Result, Study)
"In England, the profession of the law is that which seems to hold out the strongest attraction to talent, from the circumstance, that in it ability, coupled with exertion, even though unaided by patronage, cannot fail of obtaining reward."
- Charles Babbage
(Related: Talent, Ability, Circumstance, England, Law, Profession, Reward)
"I started playing piano with a little band in high school. I was terrible. I thought I had absolutely no talent. I couldn't keep time. I only got into McGill, which was a lousy music school, because they were taking American music students."
- Burt Bacharach
(Related: Music, Time, Talent, Thought, American, School, Students)
"For generations, America has served as a beacon of hope and freedom for those outside her borders, and as a land of limitless opportunity for those risking everything to seek a better life. Their talents and contributions have continued to enrich our country."
- Spencer Bachus
(Related: Life, Opportunity, Hope, America, Country, Freedom, Generations, Land)
"Any idiot can get laid when they're famous. That's easy. It's getting laid when you're not famous that takes some talent."
- Kevin Bacon
(Related: Talent, Famous)
"What I work hard at doing is staying on a path of being kind and showing and proving that I'm a good person to society. That's hard. The talent, that's a gift. I just came here like that."
- Erykah Badu
(Related: Work, Society, Talent, Being)
"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."
- Pearl Bailey
(Related: Work, Talent, God, Man)
"I went into show business because I love to work with people, and what I enjoy most about acting is rehearsing and getting to know people and their talents, forming relationships. Working in this business, barriers drop and you get into people real quickly."
- Scott Bakula
(Related: Business, Love, Work, People, Acting, Relationships)
"Any writer, I suppose, feels that the world into which he was born is nothing less than a conspiracy against the cultivation of his talent."
- James A. Baldwin
(Related: Talent, Nothing, World, Writer)
"I regret the passing of the studio system. I was very appreciative of it because I had no talent."
- Lucille Ball
(Related: Talent, Regret)
"There is no such thing as a great talent without great will power."
- Honore de Balzac
(Related: Power, Talent, Will)
"At fifteen, beauty and talent do not exist; there can only be promise of the coming woman."
- Honore de Balzac
(Related: Beauty, Talent, Promise, Woman)
"I began as a boy with artistic talent... as a visual artist... I thought that was what I'd become and in my late teens drifted into reading serious literature."
- Russell Banks
(Related: Talent, Thought, Artist, Literature, Reading)
"In Mozart and Salieri we see the contrast between the genius which does what it must and the talent which does what it can."
- Maurice Baring
(Related: Talent, Genius, Contrast)
"I'll tell you one thing, in what I do for a living, there's no substitute for experience. I don't care how much natural talent you may have... In the type of show I do, you can depend on surprises."
- Bob Barker
(Related: Experience, Talent, Care, Living, May, Surprises)
"The main thing to do is relax and let your talent do the work."
- Charles Barkley
(Related: Work, Talent, Relax)
"My lips are big, but my talent is bigger."
- Fantasia Barrino
(Related: Talent)
"One lapse of judgment can cost and talent isn't everything. A huge slice of good fortune in needed to make it to the top, and without that element of luck, you've no chance."
- John Barrow
(Related: Talent, Chance, Fortune, Judgment, Luck)
"People realize that Salieri is not the man we saw in the Amadeus movie. That man had no talent. It was a great movie, but the Salieri character was a big fiction."
- Cecilia Bartoli
(Related: Talent, People, Character, Fiction, Man)
"Most successful men have not achieved their distinction by having some new talent or opportunity that was at hand."
- Bruce Barton
(Related: Men, Talent, Opportunity, Successful)
"Marriage requires a special talent, like acting. Monogamy requires genius."
- Warren Beatty
(Related: Marriage, Talent, Genius, Acting)
"The barriers are not erected which can say to aspiring talents and industry, "Thus far and no farther.""
- Ludwig van Beethoven
"It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I was too famous."
- Robert Benchley
(Related: Time, Talent, Famous, Writing, Years)
"I'm a classic example of what can happen if you follow your inner voice. I was cursed with interests and some talent in many different areas. It confuses people."
- Dirk Benedict
(Related: Talent, People, Example, Voice)
"When I was a young actor... the more different you were from the part you played, the more talent it reflected."
- Dirk Benedict
(Related: Talent, Actor)
"Great things are accomplished by talented people who believe they will accomplish them."
- Warren G. Bennis
(Related: People, Will)
"Music is at once the product of feeling and knowledge, for it requires from its disciples, composers and performers alike, not only talent and enthusiasm, but also that knowledge and perception which are the result of protracted study and reflection."
- Alban Berg
(Related: Music, Talent, Knowledge, Enthusiasm, Perception, Composers, Feeling, Reflection, Result, Study)
"Talent is only the starting point."
- Irving Berlin
(Related: Talent)
"The luck of having talent is not enough; one must also have a talent for luck."
- Hector Berlioz
(Related: Talent, Luck)
"An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it."
- William Bernbach
(Related: Talent, Idea, Magic)
"A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals."
- Larry Bird
(Related: God, Goals)
"I really feel that the talent I have is acting. Freedom and the possibility of play-that is what I like to have."
- Jacqueline Bisset
(Related: Talent, Possibility, Acting, Freedom, Play)
"I am a great lover of art, in many forms: paintings, objets, textiles. I don't have the talent for painting, but I have a very good sense of colour, a love of visual beauty."
- Jacqueline Bisset
(Related: Beauty, Love, Art, Talent, Painting, Sense)
"You can sometimes learn more working with less talented people, because you learn to survive."
- Jacqueline Bisset
(Related: People)
"What I do not accept is the fact that so many people's talents were ripped off."
- Ruben Blades
(Related: People, Fact)
"Everyone the world over talks about British actors and British talent and I think that's because we were trained - until now - in theatre."
- Brenda Blethyn
(Related: Talent, Actors, Now, Theatre, World)
"Living composers writing for big band are very few and far between. There are not a lot of them, and I have a talent for doing it. I am zeroing in on what I do best."
- Carla Bley
(Related: Talent, Composers, Living, Writing)
"I don't know what the secret to longevity as an actress is. It's more than talent and beauty. Maybe it's the audience seeing itself in you."
- Joan Blondell
(Related: Beauty, Talent, Longevity)
"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'."
- Erma Bombeck
(Related: God, Life, Talent, Hope, End)
"Let the path be open to talent."
- Napoleon Bonaparte
(Related: Talent, Open)
"Our team has a lot of talent. I hope that soon we will break out with four or five goals and avoid overtime."
- Peter Bondra
(Related: Talent, Goals, Hope, Will)
"It's called talent. I just have it. I can't explain it. You either have it or you don't."
- Barry Bonds
(Related: Talent)
"Unhappiness is best defined as the difference between our talents and our expectations."
- Edward de Bono
(Related: Difference, Expectations, Unhappiness)
"To be successful you have to be lucky, or a little mad, or very talented, or find yourself in a rapid growth field."
- Edward de Bono
(Related: Successful, Growth)
"Genius makes its observations in short-hand; talent writes them out at length."
- Christian Nestell Bovee
(Related: Talent, Genius)
"I believe that I often bring out the best in somebody's talents."
- David Bowie
"It was my Mum who got me into singing properly - she knew I had to do something with my voice because she knew I was talented. She was the one who pushed me into joining a choir all those years ago, when I was about 12. I remember she told me to start with the choir and just see where it took me."
- Susan Boyle
(Related: Singing, Voice, Years)
"You can work hard to sharpen your talent, to get better at whatever it is that you do, and I think that's what it comes back to."
- Ed Bradley
(Related: Work, Talent)
"A lot of times I find that people who are blessed with the most talent don't ever develop that attitude, and the ones who aren't blessed in that way are the most competitive and have the biggest heart."
- Tom Brady
(Related: Talent, People, Heart, Attitude)
"I only really cast people who are desperate to be in it - who were dying to be in it, whose talent I believed in and were dead ready to do the work that was necessary."
- Kenneth Branagh
(Related: Work, Talent, People, Dying)
"I like to cast actors I admire, one's that are talented. Each one will bring something new to the part. This play has been done thousands of times and now certain characters are too familiar."
- Kenneth Branagh
(Related: Actors, Now, Play, Will)
"Never confuse the size of your paycheck with the size of your talent."
- Marlon Brando
(Related: Talent)
"But only if I believe that my directing talents will improve the material I'd be working on. I want to make sure I don't sacrifice beautiful material on the altar of my direction."
- Andre Braugher
(Related: Sacrifice, Direction, Want, Will)
"Middle age snuffs out more talent than even wars or sudden death does."
- Gerald Brenan
(Related: Age, Death, Talent, Middle age)
"Dali is like a man who hesitates between talent and genius, or, as one might once have said, between vice and virtue."
- Andre Breton
(Related: Talent, Genius, Virtue, Man, Vice)
"I feel like directing is an innate talent."
- Jordana Brewster
(Related: Talent)
"If I have any talent at all it's from God, and my mom, who was on Capitol Records also."
- Garth Brooks
(Related: God, Mom, Talent)
"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."
- Mel Brooks
(Related: Talent, People, Ability, Being, Living, Names, Skin, Writer)
"I started Michael years ago. I saw him in Gary, Indiana, and we'd have him on the talent shows. He kind of emulated me, and did the best he could."
- James Brown
(Related: Talent, Years)
"Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There's plenty of movement, but you never know if it's going to be forward, backwards, or sideways."
- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
(Related: Talent, Discipline)
"The primary function of a theater is not to please itself, or even to please its audience. It is to serve talent."
- Robert Brustein
(Related: Talent, Theater)
"I adore being with Roberta. I adore being in her spiritual light. I adore being close to her talent and gifts."
- Peabo Bryson
(Related: Talent, Being, Gifts, Light, Spiritual)
"I was young and so eager to make some money as well as get exposed and show my talent."
- Young Buck
(Related: Money, Talent)
"Obviously you have to have talent in order to play so you can't overlook that, but we won't overlook the character issue when it comes to talent because if they have talent and they don't have character, it's going to be very difficult to coach that person."
- Tim Buckley
(Related: Talent, Character, Coach, Order, Play)
"Talent does what it can; genius does what it must."
- Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton
(Related: Talent, Genius)
"What mankind wants is not talent; it is purpose."
- Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton
(Related: Talent, Purpose, Mankind)
"Genius does what it must, and talent does what it can."
- Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton
(Related: Talent, Genius)
"When the leaders choose to make themselves bidders at an auction of popularity, their talents, in the construction of the state, will be of no service. They will become flatterers instead of legislators; the instruments, not the guides, of the people."
- Edmund Burke
(Related: People, Leaders, Legislators, Popularity, Service, State, Will)
"Vocational education programs have made a real difference in the lives of countless young people nationwide; they build self-confidence and leadership skills by allowing students to utilize their unique gifts and talents."
- Conrad Burns
(Related: Education, Leadership, People, Difference, Gifts, Self, Students)
"Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God."
- Leo Buscaglia
(Related: God, Talent)
"The standing ovation threw me... to be held in such regard in a town so full of talent is quite something."
- Michael Caine
(Related: Talent)
"I'll always be there because I'm a skilled professional actor. Whether or not I've any talent is beside the point."
- Michael Caine
(Related: Talent, Actor)
"What Romantic terminology called genius or talent or inspiration is nothing other than finding the right road empirically, following one's nose, taking shortcuts."
- Italo Calvino
(Related: Talent, Genius, Inspiration, Nothing, Right, Road, Romantic)
"There are many talented people who haven't fulfilled their dreams because they over thought it, or they were too cautious, and were unwilling to make the leap of faith."
- James Cameron
(Related: Dreams, Faith, Thought, People)
"People who sleep around to get roles are frail and scared and most likely without talent. It's their own little horror show that only they can deal with."
- Bruce Campbell
(Related: Talent, People, Horror, Sleep)
"It's not enough to have talent, you also have to be Hungarian."
- Robert Capa
(Related: Talent)
"Abstract art: a product of the untalented sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered."
- Al Capp
"The cut of a garment speaks of intellect and talent and the color of temperament and heart."
- Thomas Carlyle
(Related: Talent, Heart, Intellect, Temperament)
"People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents."
- Andrew Carnegie
(Related: People, Content, Mediocrity)
"If you've got a talent, protect it."
- Jim Carrey
(Related: Talent)
"Talent alone won't make you a success. Neither will being in the right place at the right time, unless you are ready. The most important question is: "Are your ready?""
- Johnny Carson
(Related: Success, Time, Talent, Being, Question, Right, Will)
"My mother learned that she was carrying me at about the same time the Second World War was declared; with the family talent for magic realism, she once told me she had been to the doctor's on the very day."
- Angela Carter
(Related: Family, Time, War, Mother, Talent, Day, Magic, Realism, World, World war)
"It's like a novelist writing far out things. If it makes a point and makes sense, then people like to read that. But if it's off in left field and goes over the edge, you lose it. The same with musical talent, I think."
- Johnny Cash
(Related: Talent, People, Sense, Writing)
"My Mom and Dad did it pretty good, so I know it can work. The foremost thing I would say about working with Robin and Sean is that they were devoted to this project and devoted to their characters. You can't ask for any more from talented actors like that."
- Nick Cassavetes
(Related: Dad, Mom, Work, Actors, Pretty, Project)
"All the intelligence and talent in the world can't make a singer. The voice is a wild thing. It can't be bred in captivity. It is a sport, like the silver fox. It happens."
- Willa Cather
(Related: Intelligence, Talent, Voice, World)
"To note an artist's limitations is but to define his talent. A reporter can write equally well about everything that is presented to his view, but a creative writer can do his best only with what lies within the range and character of his deepest sympathies."
- Willa Cather
(Related: Talent, Character, Artist, Lies, Limitations, Writer)
"Sometimes I wonder why God ever trusts talent in the hands of women, they usually make such an infernal mess of it. I think He must do it as a sort of ghastly joke."
- Willa Cather
(Related: God, Women, Talent, Wonder)
"All of the Spaniards are really talented. I don't know what they eat."
- Michael Chang
"Benevolence alone will not make a teacher, nor will learning alone do it. The gift of teaching is a peculiar talent, and implies a need and a craving in the teacher himself."
- John Jay Chapman
(Related: Talent, Benevolence, Learning, Teaching, Will)
"They can't make any of these talented young actors Fletch. You might as well make a movie called Chevy Chase."
- Chevy Chase
(Related: Actors)
"There is nothing new in art except talent."
- Anton Chekhov
(Related: Art, Talent, Nothing)
"Faith is an aptitude of the spirit. It is, in fact, a talent: you must be born with it."
- Anton Chekhov
(Related: Faith, Fact, Spirit)
"I believe, however, that such abnormal moments can be found in everyone, and it is all the more fortunate when they occur in individuals with creative talent or with clairvoyant powers."
- Giorgio de Chirico
(Related: Talent, Moments)
"Tremendous amounts of talent are lost to our society just because that talent wears a skirt."
- Shirley Chisholm
(Related: Society, Talent)
"I think I've got something when I'm onscreen, but that's nothing to do with acting or talent."
- Julie Christie
(Related: Talent, Acting, Nothing)
"I don't think there are really enough meetings in Britain for our athletes to compete properly, and because of this a lot of the talent we have has been stunted."
- Linford Christie
(Related: Talent, Athletes, Meetings)
"I've got the god given talent or the god given opportunity better put, to let that out in a harmless way you know, and I don't know what it does to you, I don't really know."
- Eric Clapton
(Related: God, Talent, Opportunity)
"We're all generous, but with different things, like time, money, talent - criticism."
- Frank Howard Clark
(Related: Money, Time, Talent, Criticism)
"I've known Shawn for several years. And he's just an amazing talent. He's a great writer, a marvelous, marvelous guitar player, and plays really good fiddle."
- Guy Clark
(Related: Talent, Guitar, Writer, Years)
"I am scared; I don't know what is going to happen to me. What was the point of working so hard and of being talented, to be rewarded like this? Never a penny, tormented all my life. It is horrible; one cannot imagine it."
- Camille Claudel
(Related: Life, Being)
"If I have a talent for making some fourth-grader who hates school and reading to hate it a little less, then I have to do the most with what I've been issued."
- Brian P. Cleary
(Related: Talent, Hate, Reading, School)
"I can never do better than Fawlty Towers whatever I do. Now I very much want to teach young talent some rules of the game."
- John Cleese
(Related: Talent, Now, Rules, Want)
"You know in 1982, the year we came in tied for 3rd, we probably had a better team - I mean as far as talent. When we came back the following year and won it, our pitching staff was a little more experienced and it was such a thrill."
- Roger Clemens
(Related: Talent)
"With the hugely talented women I've worked with or observed, it's not a question about temperament or ego; it's a question about getting it right. If they've got a reputation for being difficult it's usually because they just don't suffer fools."
- Glenn Close
(Related: Women, Being, Ego, Fools, Question, Reputation, Right, Temperament)
"I think the diva is kind of a cliche. My definition of a diva is somebody whose talent does not match what they're trying to play, so all this temperament comes out."
- Glenn Close
(Related: Talent, Play, Temperament, Trying)
"Men fail much oftener from want of perseverance than from want of talent."
- William Cobbett
(Related: Men, Talent, Perseverance, Want)
"Ah, well, I have no talent for nonfiction, that's my problem."
- Jonathan Coe
(Related: Talent)
"I'm not sure there are enough coaches in the system that can take young talent and consistently get them into the top five in the world."
- Sebastian Coe
(Related: Talent, Coaches, World)
"Character is more important than talent."
- Edwin Louis Cole
(Related: Talent, Character)
"Talent, lying in the understanding, is often inherited; genius, being the action of reason or imagination, rarely or never."
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Related: Imagination, Talent, Genius, Action, Being, Lying, Reason, Understanding)
"Reviewers are usually people who would have been, poets, historians, biographer, if they could. They have tried their talents at one thing or another and have failed; therefore they turn critic."
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(Related: People, Historians, Poets)
"Common sense is perhaps the most equally divided, but surely the most underemployed, talent in the world."
- Christiane Collage
(Related: Talent, Common sense, World)
"I worked with the world's greatest talents and then went home to the world's greatest woman. It was, and is, a great life."
- Perry Como
(Related: Home, Life, Woman, World)
"For the amount of talent I had - and I couldn't dance, act, or tell a joke - I enjoyed a tremendous career."
- Perry Como
(Related: Talent, Dance, Act, Career)
"A lazy person, whatever the talents with which he set out, will have condemned himself to second-hand thoughts and to second-rate friends."
- Cyril Connolly
(Related: Thoughts, Friends, Will)
"A best-seller is the golden touch of mediocre talent."
- Cyril Connolly
(Related: Talent)
"A talent somewhat above mediocrity, shrewd and not too sensitive, is more likely to rise in the world than genius."
- Charles Horton Cooley
(Related: Talent, Genius, Mediocrity, World)
"Worried about being a dull fellow? You might develop your talent for being irritating."
- Mason Cooley
(Related: Talent, Being)
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
- Calvin Coolidge
(Related: Education, Talent, Genius, People, Determination, Nothing, Persistence, Will, World)
"Art depends on luck and talent."
- Francis Ford Coppola
(Related: Art, Talent, Luck)
"I was the kind of kid that had some talents or ability, but it never came out in school."
- Francis Ford Coppola
(Related: Ability, School)
"I have seen that the American Dream is a reality - and I would love to feel the British Dream is also a reality. To enable that, we have to bring back some common sense and encourage family values, a proper sense of justice and make people believe they have a decent chance to build a business or career for themselves. I see this moment as a fantastic opportunity to restore this, because I believe Britain Has Talent."
- Simon Cowell
(Related: Business, Family, Love, Talent, People, Dream, Opportunity, Values, American, Career, Chance, Common sense, Justice, Reality)
"Talent is what you possess; genius is what possesses you."
- Malcolm Cowley
(Related: Talent, Genius)
"I think the most important thing a woman can have - next to talent, of course - is her hairdresser."
- Joan Crawford
(Related: Talent, Woman)
"I think that the most important thing a woman can have - next to talent, of course - is her hairdresser."
- Joan Crawford
(Related: Talent, Woman)
"The poverty from which I have suffered could be diagnosed as "Soho" poverty. It comes from having the airs and graces of a genius and no talent."
- Quentin Crisp
(Related: Talent, Genius, Poverty)
"I also wanted to do something that I hadn't really seen in almost any black novels, which was a complex love story in which both people were extremely intelligent and talented and understood a lot of things and were still at odds getting it together."
- Stanley Crouch
(Related: Love, People)
"In the absence of willpower the most complete collection of virtues and talents is wholly worthless."
- Aleister Crowley
(Related: Willpower, Absence)
"I don't think there's any such thing as teaching people photography, other than influencing them a little. People have to be their own learners. They have to have a certain talent."
- Imogen Cunningham
(Related: Talent, People, Photography, Teaching)
"But we live in a modern world, you know, and, and also it does seem to me that if you - that whatever talents you have, it... I mean it may sound a bit absurd but I, I think it's your, absolutely your duty to resolve them, you know?"
- Tim Curry
(Related: Duty, May, Sound, World)
"I have tried to explore the little talent I have for writing."
- Cyril Cusack
(Related: Talent, Writing)
"There is no spray can called 'Instant Stardom,' only talent can keep you at the top."
- Jim Dale
(Related: Talent)
"In order to acquire a growing and lasting respect in society, it is a good thing, if you possess great talent, to give, early in your youth, a very hard kick to the right shin of the society that you love. After that, be a snob."
- Salvador Dali
(Related: Society, Love, Talent, Order, Respect, Right, Youth)
"I never starved. And you know, whatever talent I have, I've relied on that, versus image or star."
- Jeff Daniels
(Related: Talent)
"Psychoanalysis. Almost went three times - almost. Then I decided what was peculiar about me was probably what made me successful. I've seen some very talented actors go into analysis and really lose it."
- Bette Davis
(Related: Successful, Actors, Psychoanalysis)
"What have I got? No looks, no money, no education. Just talent."
- Sammy Davis, Jr.
(Related: Education, Money, Talent)
"All I really had was my talent. Without that I wouldn't be welcome at the White House."
- Sammy Davis, Jr.
(Related: Talent)
"Everyone has talent at twenty-five. The difficulty is to have it at fifty."
- Edgar Degas
(Related: Talent, Difficulty)
"Talent does whatever it wants to do. Genius does only what it can."
- Eugene Delacroix
(Related: Talent, Genius)
"As a teenager I was so insecure. I was the type of guy that never fitted in because he never dared to choose. I was convinced I had absolutely no talent at all. For nothing. And that thought took away all my ambition too."
- Johnny Depp
(Related: Talent, Thought, Ambition, Nothing)
"The little boy, Spencer Breslin, it was just so great to have a kid on set. He is talented, he's a pro. He's been doing this for years, I think he started when he was four or five."
- Caroline Dhavernas
(Related: Years)
"I do like Marylin Manson, actually. I think, he's very talented and he did make some great music."
- Bruce Dickinson
(Related: Music)
"Celebrity is the chastisement of merit and the punishment of talent."
- Emily Dickinson
(Related: Talent, Celebrity, Merit, Punishment)
"Obviously, for me, story is first and foremost, even in the face of the attractive idea of having all the cast there, or having a great piece of talent come to it."
- Vin Diesel
(Related: Talent, Idea, First)
"I am flattered that they think that many people would enjoy my work. I don't approach any genre a different way than I may approach another one. I treat every role I do like a role worthy of applying whatever kind of tactic, process and talent I have."
- Vin Diesel
(Related: Work, Talent, People, May)
"I've never taken vocal lessons. My early trumpet training and a fortunate talent for singing has always been enough for me. In the case of rock singing, I've always felt it was better to remain a bit untrained to maintain your individuality."
- Ronnie James Dio
(Related: Talent, Individuality, Singing, Training)
"If you had the opportunity and some talent, there was no way you couldn't progress, because it was an open market. There was the advertising world, and there was the documentary world."
- Richard Donner
(Related: Talent, Opportunity, Progress, Advertising, Open, World)
"Basically, at some point, one day maybe you can expect to hear some of my music. I haven't really done that yet because my younger brother is a musician and really talented and I want him to come out with his music first."
- Stephen Dorff
(Related: Music, Brother, Day, First, Want)
"I would think that other people could see if you had other talents. I grew and expanded from the Elly May role. I was doing real estate and personal appearances and kept my foot in the door."
- Donna Douglas
(Related: People, May)
"I met Patricia Neal, John Houseman. But I loved my grandfather because he was this kind, talented man."
- Illeana Douglas
(Related: Man)
"I think children have talent and insight, but it gets beaten out of them."
- Rita Dove
(Related: Talent, Children)
"Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius."
- Arthur Conan Doyle
(Related: Talent, Genius, Mediocrity, Nothing)
"It must be remembered that the Bush White House has a separate talent for character assassination that must not be confused with a talent for governance."
- Richard Dreyfuss
(Related: Talent, Character, Assassination)
"I decided at age 9, but I was reinforced at age 13 when a teacher told me I had talent. I can't say she really motivated me because I already knew. I knew I had talent. I went to the Jewish community theater and got in plays there. Then I went for the movies.'"
- Richard Dreyfuss
(Related: Age, Movies, Talent, Community, Theater)
"I feel I have to work hard to nurture whatever talent I have as an actor. I feel like it's not natural to me. So I don't take it for granted... What I think is my natural ability - which is writing - I think I totally take that for granted."
- David Duchovny
(Related: Work, Talent, Ability, Actor, Writing)
"I really think that aside from admiring my talent you really admire me as a person and as a woman."
- Katherine Dunham
(Related: Talent, Woman)
"Aside from a few master teachers that we have had over the years, this has been a completely local talent development. But people have started to come now from Chicago, we have a number of students from Chicago and different places of the country and even in the world."
- Katherine Dunham
(Related: Talent, People, Development, Chicago, Country, Now, Students, Teachers, World, Years)
"And while national military forces have historically resisted the full participation of women soldiers, female talent has found plenty of scope in revolutionary and terrorist groups around the planet."
- Katherine Dunn
(Related: Women, Talent, Military, Participation, Soldiers)
"I'd go dance at talent shows, and because I was young I had the upper hand on a lot of other crews. People thought it was cute. I used that to my advantage."
- Jermaine Dupri
(Related: Talent, Thought, People, Dance, Cute)
"Why has God given me such magnificent talent? It is a curse as well as a great blessing."
- Albrecht Durer
(Related: God, Talent)
"I was told I was talented when I applied to Falmouth School of Art and that I should consider skipping the course and proceeding directly to degree level."
- John Dyer
(Related: Art, School)
"Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best."
- Henry Van Dyke
(Related: Birds)
"Genius is talent set on fire by courage."
- Henry Van Dyke
(Related: Talent, Genius, Courage, Fire)
"Throughout the course of my life, I've been blessed to work with extremely talented people."
- George Dzundza
(Related: Work, Life, People)
"The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge."
- Albert Einstein
(Related: Talent, Knowledge, Positive, Fantasy)
"I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious."
- Albert Einstein
(Related: Talent)
"When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking."
- Albert Einstein
(Related: Talent, Thought, Positive, Fantasy, Positive thinking)
"I like Soderbergh, Spielberg, Lucas. There's a lot of talented guys out there obviously, and if you're a fan of films, you have to look at that stuff and learn from them."
- David R. Ellis
"The greatest luck that I've had has been the ability to find men and women who came into my administration who worked with me and brought extraordinary talents that we were able to take full advantage of."
- John Engler
(Related: Men, Women, Ability, Luck)
"We have a training period; we have certain guidelines and structure. You can't hire talented people and stifle them. That's not the way it works anymore."
- Todd English
(Related: People, Training)
"I have a definite talent for convincing people to try something new. I am a good salesman. When I'm on form, I can sell anything."
- Brian Eno
(Related: Talent, People)
"No one respects a talent that is concealed."
- Desiderius Erasmus
(Related: Talent)
"Concealed talent brings no reputation."
- Desiderius Erasmus
(Related: Talent, Reputation)
"The buried talent is the sunken rock on which most lives strike and founder."
- Frederick William Faber
(Related: Talent)
"The German mind has a talent for making no mistakes but the very greatest."
- Clifton Fadiman
(Related: Talent, Mind, Mistakes)
"I would say that music is the easiest means in which to express, but since words are my talent, I must try to express clumsily in words what the pure music would have done better."
- William Faulkner
(Related: Music, Talent, Words)
"Obviously talent gets you to a certain point, but it's what you do with it, how you handle."
- Brett Favre
(Related: Talent)
"I, most talented players don't always succeed. Some don't even make the team. It's more what's inside."
- Brett Favre
(Related: Succeed)
"The first thing they were told was how to hone their talent. Then they were told how to market their talent, discipline their talent and type their talent. And then they were told they might as well forget about talent."
- Esther B. Fein
(Related: Talent, Discipline, First, Forget)
"I do not think men have more talent. There are a great many women in the arts; novelists, painters, sculptors, poets-but the proportion is far lower in the field of song writing."
- Dorothy Fields
(Related: Men, Women, Talent, Poets, Song, Writing)
"There are many young talents in Brazil. There is a lot of hope in Felipe Massa. It is very difficult to judge him in his first year, but by the end of the end we are going to have a better position how he does in Formula One."
- Emerson Fittipaldi
(Related: Hope, Brazil, End, First, Formula)
"Genius is immediate, but talent takes time."
- Janet Flanner
(Related: Time, Talent, Genius)
"My sport taught me what I could do with my talents, whether in the rink or in the rest of my life."
- Peggy Fleming
(Related: Life, Rest)
"America tends to worship the modest talent because it doesn't put us in an uncomfortable position vis-a-vis the artist."
- Carlisle Floyd
(Related: Talent, America, Artist, Worship)
"No, but I've always felt that with true talent, and a commitment to hard work, it is possible to achieve an enduring respect and appreciation. In other words, I don't take my fans for granted."
- John Fogerty
(Related: Work, Talent, Appreciation, Commitment, Fans, Hard work, Respect, Words)
"Joe Walsh is a great guy and and an unbelievable talent, I'd like to work with him again someday."
- Lita Ford
(Related: Work, Talent)
"That is what I always tell service clubs: If you hear of somebody who is very young and talented, pick them up and give them that little assistance to make sure that they get to the professional stage."
- Maureen Forrester
(Related: Service)
"No man can discover his own talents."
- Brendan Francis
(Related: Man)
"Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?"
- Benjamin Franklin
"As long as she is talented enough and passionate about doing it herself then I will be happy and support her. I think I will be sensible - my parents said I could only do it if I got my education and so I had something to fall back on."
- Anna Friel
(Related: Education, Parents, Support, Will)
"I have no interest in directing. I've no talent for it."
- Victor Garber
(Related: Talent, Interest)
"My talents fall within definite limitations. I am not as versatile an actress as some think."
- Greta Garbo
(Related: Limitations)
"Talent, like beauty, to be pardoned, must be obscure and unostentatious."
- Marguerite Gardiner
(Related: Beauty, Talent)
"True happiness involves the full use of one's power and talents."
- John W. Gardner
(Related: Happiness, Power)
"For every talent that poverty has stimulated it has blighted a hundred."
- John W. Gardner
(Related: Talent, Poverty)
"When you sit down and focus on the matches and series that took place during the 12 month period it strikes you just how broad the talent pool is in international cricket is today."
- Sunil Gavaskar
(Related: Talent, Cricket, Focus, Today)
"You achieve because you're lucky to work with people who are very talented."
- Ben Gazzara
(Related: Work, People)
"I'm not Sammy Glick. I've never killed anyone. I don't have to. I'm too talented."
- David Geffen
"What's really sad is that a lot of very talented people are being forced to do things that are very embarrassing and I don't intend to be one of them."
- Boy George
(Related: People, Being)
"Writing is no dying art form in America because most published writers here accept the wisdom and the necessity of encouraging the talent that follows in their footsteps."
- Elizabeth George
(Related: Art, Wisdom, Talent, Encouraging, America, Dying, Footsteps, Necessity, Writers, Writing)
"And I told her point blank, you've got everything to live for. You've got such talent. You're back singing great, lose the weight. And she went and did it, and look at her now!"
- David Gest
(Related: Talent, Singing, Weight)
"Both parents were very encouraging - especially my father. My father thought the sun rose and set with me. Neither one had a musical background or any musical talent. They liked classical music, but neither could carry a tune."
- Gordon Getty
(Related: Music, Father, Talent, Thought, Encouraging, Parents, Sun)
"I'm really happy that I got to work with such fresh talent. In a day when record companies are not particularly good at encouraging young, talented songwriters to come forward and get exposure, I think it's important to give tomorrow's songwriters the opportunity."
- Robin Gibb
(Related: Work, Talent, Opportunity, Encouraging, Day, Tomorrow)
"The real issue is not talent as an independent element, but talent in relationship to will, desire, and persistence. Talent without these things vanishes and even modest talent with those characteristics grows."
- Milton Glaser
(Related: Talent, Desire, Persistence, Will)
"I wrote the Brotherhood song for no money out of my deep feelings about humanity, and because I was flattered that whatever talents I had, had been recognized."
- Tom Glazer
(Related: Money, Feelings, Brotherhood, Deep, Humanity, Song)
"In my early days I was a contract player at Universal and I had a wonderful mentor named Monique James, who was head of talent there, and she used to drag me on sets to do parts."
- Sharon Gless
(Related: Talent)
"These are extremely talented actors who are all putting their talents into the Lost in Space movie."
- Mark Goddard
(Related: Actors, Space)
"Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life."
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(Related: Life, Talent, Character, Quiet)
"A really great talent finds its happiness in execution."
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(Related: Happiness, Talent, Execution)
"The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it."
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(Related: Happiness, Talent, Will)
"I would not be able to pen an academic and dry diatribe. I have too much talent for that."
- Theo Van Gogh
(Related: Talent, Pen)
"Things happen to you out of luck, and if you get to stick around it's because you're talented."
- Whoopi Goldberg
(Related: Luck)
"Genius is the talent of a person who is dead."
- Edmond de Goncourt
(Related: Talent, Genius)
"I'm a song and dance girl. I can act enough to get by. But that's the limit of my talents."
- Betty Grable
(Related: Dance, Act, Song)
"Don't show off every day, or you'll stop surprising people. There must always be some novelty left over. The person who displays a little more of it each day keeps up expectations, and no one ever discovers the limits of his talent."
- Baltasar Gracian
(Related: Talent, People, Day, Expectations, Limits, Novelty)
"Sponsors and networks will really go all out and simply evaluate people on the basis of talent."
- Norman Granz
(Related: Talent, People, Evaluate, Will)
"Ella can work nightclubs that Duke might not be able to work, because of having the big band. Where they go now is strictly a matter of their own names and talents."
- Norman Granz
(Related: Work, Names, Now)
"What makes a child gifted and talented may not always be good grades in school, but a different way of looking at the world and learning."
- Chuck Grassley
(Related: Learning, May, School, World)
"Steve produced Girls Grow Up Faster Than Boys and one more. Then he and I wrote a few songs together and became good friends. He was a talented producer."
- Jimmy Griffin
(Related: Boys, Friends, Girls, Songs)
"But, unfortunately, sometimes that affirmation creates a sense that you deserve special treatment and recognition in areas where you're not so talented."
- Taylor Hackford
(Related: Affirmation, Sense, Treatment)
"I really believe you can predict when someone has a great attitude, a real well of talent."
- Taylor Hackford
(Related: Talent, Attitude)
"Jim Bakker is an extremely talented preacher, if he would just get it together."
- Jessica Hahn
"Hard work without talent is a shame, but talent without hard work is a tragedy."
- Robert Half
(Related: Work, Talent, Hard work, Shame, Tragedy)
"Theatre is about people, not buildings. Incalculable damage has been done to the expert talent a company needs - from wardrobe to lighting technicians."
- Edward Hall
(Related: Talent, People, Company, Needs, Theatre)
"How man evolved with such an incredible reservoir of talent and such fantastic diversity isn't completely understood... he knows so little and has nothing to measure himself against."
- Edward T. Hall
(Related: Talent, Diversity, Man, Measure, Nothing)
"Then I sit down, work at it, because now I have a convincing feeling about what that place wants to be, you see? And it's not just me. Me and my talent comes in taking that consensus and then making something wonderful out of it - a work of art."
- Lawrence Halprin
(Related: Art, Work, Talent, Feeling, Now)
"We didn't know how to run a business, but we had dreams and talent."
- Ruth Handler
(Related: Dreams, Business, Talent)
"My big ears indicated a talent for music. This thrilled me."
- William Christopher Handy
(Related: Music, Talent)
"I think I have the skills. I'm a great judge of talent. I just know basketball."
- Tim Hardaway
(Related: Talent, Basketball)
"I believe that God felt sorry for actors so he created Hollywood to give them a place in the sun and a swimming pool. The price they had to pay was to surrender their talent."
- Cedric Hardwicke
(Related: God, Talent, Actors, Hollywood, Sun, Surrender)
"Everybody is so talented nowadays that the only people I care to honor as deserving real distinction are those who remain in obscurity."
- Thomas Hardy
(Related: People, Care, Honor, Obscurity)
"You want to do something that shows some type individuality and talent and imagination - at the same time, you want to be truthful to the predecessors, because obviously the audience liked something about them and you have to replicate that experience to a certain extent."
- Renny Harlin
(Related: Experience, Imagination, Time, Talent, Individuality, Want)
"And I wasn't convinced that I was the most talented person in the world."
- Debbie Harry
(Related: World)
"I praise the Lord here today. I know that all my talent and all my ability comes from him, and without him I'm nothing and I thank him for his great blessing."
- Ernie Harwell
(Related: Talent, Ability, Nothing, Praise, Today)
"The talent that I was blessed with was really for the theater."
- David Hasselhoff
(Related: Talent, Theater)
"I'm six foot four, an all-American guy, and handsome and talented as well!"
- David Hasselhoff
"If you want to achieve things in life, you've just got to do them, and if you're talented and smart, you'll succeed."
- Juliana Hatfield
(Related: Life, Succeed, Want)
"I tend to fall for the archetypal, talented, charismatic rock boy."
- Juliana Hatfield
"The TV business is soul crushing, talent destroying and human being destroying."
- Olivia De Havilland
(Related: Business, Talent, Soul, Being)
"Whatever the difference between brilliant and average brains, we are all creative. And through practice and study we can enhance our skills and talents."
- Jeff Hawkins
(Related: Difference, Practice, Study)
"Talent is a faculty that is highly developed, but genius commands all the faculties."
- Francis Herbert Hedge
(Related: Talent, Genius)
"His talent was as natural as the pattern that was made by the dust on a butterfly's wings. At one time he understood it no more than the butterfly did and he did not know when it was brushed or marred."
- Ernest Hemingway
(Related: Time, Talent)
"Only the really plain people know about love - the very fascinating ones try so hard to create an impression that they soon exhaust their talents."
- Katharine Hepburn
(Related: Love, People, Impression)
"Assuming that his talent can survive the increasing strain, there is one scarcely avoidable danger that lies ahead of the pupil on his road to mastery."
- Eugen Herrigel
(Related: Talent, Danger, Lies, Road)
"It's a failure of national vision when you regard children as weapons, and talents as materials you can mine, assay, and fabricate for profit and defense."
- John Hersey
(Related: Failure, Vision, Children, Defense, Profit, Weapons)
"Happiness is a how; not a what. A talent, not an object."
- Hermann Hesse
(Related: Happiness, Talent)
"Of everyone else who was running, and there were some very talented people, none of them had anywhere near the experience I had in hiring people, holding them accountable, creating systems for accountability."
- John Hickenlooper
(Related: Experience, People, Hiring, Running)
"The most important thing a mayor does is hire talented people to run the city."
- John Hickenlooper
(Related: People)
"I always knew I had a voice and I've always known I could sing, but I was too shy to let it come out. I think it's the hardest thing to do, to sing in front of people. When I finally let go and did it, I realized it's what I'm most talented at and what I love to do the most."
- Paris Hilton
(Related: Love, People, Voice)
"It takes good clients to make a good advertising agency. Regardless of how much talent an ad agency may have, it is ineffective without good products and services to advertise."
- Morris Hite
(Related: Talent, Advertising, Clients, May)
"Like a kick in the butt, the force of events wakes slumberous talents."
- Edward Hoagland
(Related: Events, Force)
"It sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own talents."
- Eric Hoffer
(Related: Desire)
"It is the child in man that is the source of his uniqueness and creativeness, and the playground is the optimal milieu for the unfolding of his capacities and talents."
- Eric Hoffer
(Related: Man, Uniqueness)
"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."
- Eric Hoffer
(Related: Talent, Desire)
"Youth itself is a talent, a perishable talent."
- Eric Hoffer
(Related: Talent, Youth)
"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."
- Dustin Hoffman
(Related: Family, HusbTalent, Caring, Man)
"Nature is the master of talents; genius is the master of nature."
- J. G. Holland
(Related: Nature, Genius)
"The world is always ready to receive talent with open arms. Very often it does not know what to do with genius."
- Oliver Wendell Holmes
(Related: Talent, Genius, Open, World)
"Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant."
- Horace
(Related: Adversity, Circumstances, Effect)
"I was much more interested in the orchestra than the piano, but I did become fairly proficient as a pianist and my teachers felt I had talent and wanted me to become a good concert pianist and earn my living that way."
- Alan Hovhaness
(Related: Talent, Living, Teachers)
"Middle age snuffs out more talent than ever wars or sudden deaths do."
- Richard Hughes
(Related: Age, Talent, Middle age)
"The greater the artist, the greater the doubt. Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize."
- Robert Hughes
(Related: Artist, Confidence, Doubt)
"I feel the producers really exploited my lack of talent at this time. I looked like an idiot up there. I want to be good, not something that people will laugh at."
- William Hung
(Related: Time, Talent, People, Want, Will)
"The truth of the matter is the real industry is in LA and the cream of the talent is there."
- Charlie Hunnam
(Related: Talent, Truth)
"I had brought up from Chile a contract agent whose cover was that of a newspaper publisher in Santiago, a young, very talented man, named Dave Phillips, who later on carved quite a career for himself in the agency."
- E. Howard Hunt
(Related: Career, Man)
"I think being an actress is more how to cope with the fact that you can't do anything else than to express a talent. It's a way of being untalented for anything."
- Isabelle Huppert
(Related: Talent, Being, Fact)
"There is no substitute for talent. Industry and all its virtues are of no avail."
- Aldous Huxley
(Related: Talent)
"So I continued through my next school, which takes me up to the age of 17, moving from the bottom stream of one year into the bottom stream of the next year, all the way through. I showed other talents which gave me self-respect, which is fine."
- Jeremy Irons
(Related: Age, School, Self)
"More than a half, maybe as much as two-thirds of my life as a writer is rewriting. I wouldn't say I have a talent that's special. It strikes me that I have an unusual kind of stamina."
- John Irving
(Related: Life, Talent, Writer)
"After all, it is the divinity within that makes the divinity without; and I have been more fascinated by a woman of talent and intelligence, though deficient in personal charms, than I have been by the most regular beauty."
- Washington Irving
(Related: Beauty, Intelligence, Talent, Divinity, Woman)
"J has told me about his past. I know what happened and why. But he is the one person who made me believe in my talent and whatever happened in the past, he's been a wonderful manager to me."
- LaToya Jackson
(Related: Manager, Talent, Past)
"I was the only Christian on the cast, but that was cool because we all respected each others talent and mostly they respected me a lot even though I was the only Christian."
- Victoria Jackson
(Related: Talent, Christian)
"The only success worth one's powder was success in the line of one's idiosyncrasy... what was talent but the art of being completely whatever one happened to be?"
- Henry James
(Related: Art, Success, Talent, Being, Worth)
"Hope is a talent like any other."
- Storm Jameson
(Related: Talent, Hope)
"I try not to have high expectations of people because it just sets you up for disappointment, but it's great to work with actors who are that talented and accomplished."
- Famke Janssen
(Related: Work, People, Actors, Disappointment, Expectations)
"I love the first two X-Men movies because I thought that Bryan Singer did such a great job. He elevated that whole genre. He's a very talented director."
- Famke Janssen
(Related: Love, Movies, Thought, First, Job)
"One of the things I noticed more in this draft than in any recent drafts was the importance of the character issue. Players who had baggage, like Justice, fell much farther than his talent dictated. But a lot of coaches didn't want to take the chance."
- Ron Jaworski
(Related: Talent, Character, Chance, Coaches, Draft, Importance, Justice, Want)
"There is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents."
- Thomas Jefferson
(Related: Men, Virtue, Aristocracy)
"God would not give us the same talent if what were right for men were wrong for women."
- Sarah Orne Jewett
(Related: Men, Women, Talent, God, Right, Wrong)
"But Madonna has a small amount of talent when it comes to movies."
- Norman Jewison
(Related: Movies, Talent)
"I think that New York is the city of all cities. There is so much diversity there. I also like that when I go there, I can catch a play or musical and see some of the most talented people practicing their craft."
- Kevin Johnson
(Related: People, Cities, Diversity, Play)
"The British have a remarkable talent for keeping calm, even when there is no crisis."
- Franklin P. Jones
(Related: Talent, Crisis, Remarkable)
"Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads."
- Erica Jong
(Related: Talent, Courage)
"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships."
- Michael Jordan
(Related: Intelligence, Talent, Teamwork, Games)
"Yeah, I've had the privilege to know a lot of really talented people."
- Ashley Judd
(Related: People, Privilege)
"I have a responsibility to nurture and shepherd my talent and when I'm living the parts of my life not related to that I feel I have the right to be left alone."
- Ashley Judd
(Related: Life, Talent, Living, Responsibility, Right)
"I think I do too many voices in these shows. I think it's because we have trouble getting voice talent."
- Mike Judge
(Related: Talent, Trouble, Voice)
"Sometimes, indeed, there is such a discrepancy between the genius and his human qualities that one has to ask oneself whether a little less talent might not have been better."
- Carl Jung
(Related: Talent, Genius)
"Great talents are the most lovely and often the most dangerous fruits on the tree of humanity. They hang upon the most slender twigs that are easily snapped off."
- Carl Jung
(Related: Humanity)
"Notable talents are not necessarily connected with discretion."
- Junius
(Related: Discretion)
"I'm not a celebrity. I'm intentionally and defiantly not a celebrity. I don't have any interest in it. I don't have any talent for it. I keep my personal life out of my public life as cleanly as I can."
- Charlie Kaufman
(Related: Life, Talent, Celebrity, Interest, Public)
"Yesterday morning I amused myself with an exercise of a talent I once possessed, but have so neglected that my performance might almost be called an experiment. I cut out a dress for one of the women."
- Fanny Kemble
(Related: Women, Talent, Performance, Dress, Exercise, Yesterday)
"I had the good fortune of speaking with Orson Wells many decades ago and he said 'Success is primarily luck anyway.' And I have been very lucky. Of course, Orson Wells was enormously talented and brilliant - so who am I to argue with him!"
- George Kennedy
(Related: Fortune, Luck)
"We believe that if men have the talent to invent new machines that put men out of work, they have the talent to put those men back to work."
- John F. Kennedy
(Related: Men, Work, Talent, Machines)
"I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House - with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."
- John F. Kennedy
(Related: Talent, Knowledge)
"We believe in some basic human principles - everyone should have the opportunities not just to survive, but to excel with their God-given talents and abilities. Those are the values that should be reflected in our budgets."
- Patrick J. Kennedy
(Related: God, Values, Budgets, Principles)
"Some people have such a talent for making the best of a bad situation that they go around creating bad situations so they can make the best of them."
- Jean Kerr
(Related: Talent, People)
"Hard work does pay, and you just have to continue to work, and you got two guys, when you're talking about Gary and myself, we have a God-given talent, but we worked at it and we're happy to be where we are today."
- Jason Kidd
(Related: Work, Talent, God, Hard work, Talking, Today)
"He was a manager, one of the singers, I guess talent coordinator for the local talent in Harlem. His name was Lover Patterson. He was living right across the street from where my dad had his restaurant. I guess he saw a lot of kids come in, a lot of my buddies."
- Ben E. King
(Related: Dad, Manager, Talent, Kids, Living, Name, Right)
"Talent in cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work."
- Stephen King
(Related: Work, Talent, Successful, Hard work)
"Balance, peace, and joy are the fruit of a successful life. It starts with recognizing your talents and finding ways to serve others by using them."
- Thomas Kinkade
(Related: Life, Peace, Successful, Balance, Joy)
"Where a beast would have claws, I was born with talent."
- Klaus Kinski
(Related: Talent)
"So I have this ability, if I may say so, to spot talent."
- Sally Kirkland
(Related: Talent, Ability, May)
"I think when there's enough will and aggression, there's no shortage of talent either."
- Jurgen Klinsmann
(Related: Talent, Aggression, Will)
"The manuals we got from IBM would show examples of programs and I knew I could do a heck of a lot better than that. So I thought I might have some talent."
- Donald Knuth
(Related: Talent, Thought)
"I do not want to die... until I have faithfully made the most of my talent and cultivated the seed that was placed in me until the last small twig has grown."
- Kathe Kollwitz
(Related: Talent, Want)
"I really believe that everyone has a talent, ability, or skill that he can mine to support himself and to succeed in life."
- Dean Koontz
(Related: Life, Talent, Ability, Skill, Succeed, Support)
"Safin, in his way, is very talented. It is a joy to watch them play; it is tennis of a very high quality."
- Richard Krajicek
(Related: Quality, Joy, Play, Tennis)
"There's tons of people with talent; it's the system that's all screwed up."
- John Kricfalusi
(Related: Talent, People)
"Looking back at it now, I really feel like it was a gift because I don't know if I have the talent to become a prima ballerina. It's such a hard job to have. I don't have any regrets about it."
- Diane Kruger
(Related: Talent, Job, Now)
"When I speak of natural drummers I'm talking about guys that are playing with the talent God gave 'em."
- Gene Krupa
(Related: God, Talent, Talking)
"Yes, I've had some pretty good luck finding wonderful talent."
- Gene Krupa
(Related: Talent, Luck, Pretty)
"Yet, analytical truth is not as mysterious, or as secret, so as to not allow us to see that people with a talent for directing consciences see truth rise spontaneously."
- Jacques Lacan
(Related: Talent, Truth, People)
"You could put all the talent I had into your left eye and still not suffer from impaired vision."
- Veronica Lake
(Related: Talent, Vision, Eye)
"I believe in nurturing creativity and offering a haven for creators, enabling them to develop their ideas to the fullest. With more and more talented creators being drawn to Cirque in an environment that fulfills them, these are ideal to continue developing great new shows."
- Guy Laliberte
(Related: Ideas, Creativity, Being, Environment)
"Indeed, I am sometimes inclined to doubt whether some men consider youth as rational and intelligent beings, with minds capable of expansion, and talents formed for usefulness."
- Joseph Lancaster
(Related: Men, Doubt, Usefulness, Youth)
"Many thousands of youth have been deprived of the benefit of education thereby, their morals ruined, and talents irretrievably lost to society, for want of cultivation: while two parties have been idly contending who should bestow it."
- Joseph Lancaster
(Related: Education, Society, Morals, Want, Youth)
"The regular guy still relates to him and Howard is a $500 million guy now who dates a model and drives about in a limo all day. But Howard still knows how to make a plumber laugh and those guys still have him on in the morning, because he is a real talent."
- Artie Lange
(Related: Talent, Day, Now)
"I started in London, as a kid. My mother knew I had sort of an inbred talent. She was an actress, so I inherited it from her. But I think I got a lot of it from my grandfather, who was a great politician."
- Angela Lansbury
(Related: Mother, Talent, London)
"From that moment on, the newspaper became a highly lucrative investment for those with a talent for making money or for publishers wanting to gain a fortune."
- Ferdinand Lassalle
(Related: Money, Talent, Fortune, Gain, Investment)
"There is such amazing talent at Disney. My job is 100% creative, and I am very excited to creatively lead them."
- John Lasseter
(Related: Talent, Disney, Job)
"Who in the same given time can produce more than others has vigor; who can produce more and better, has talents; who can produce what none else can, has genius."
- Johann Kaspar Lavater
(Related: Time, Genius)
"I wish I had a talent for dropping things as well as taking on new ones. It gets to be quite a clutter after a while."
- Joshua Lederberg
(Related: Talent)
"I believe I am a person with unusual talents. I think I'd be a liar or stupid if I were to deny that."
- Joshua Lederberg
"An actress must never lose her ego - without it she has no talent."
- Tom Lehrer
(Related: Talent, Ego)
"I think talent is dangerous to have if you take it for granted. If you use it well and put hard work with it together, it's hard to catch that guy. And I think that's what you're seeing right now."
- Ivan Lendl
(Related: Work, Talent, Hard work, Now, Right)
"We can't take any credit for our talents. It's how we use them that counts."
- Madeleine L'Engle
(Related: Credit)
"The problem with Ireland is that it's a country full of genius, but with absolutely no talent."
- Hugh Leonard
(Related: Talent, Genius, Country, Ireland)
"If I hadn't had the talent, the networks wouldn't have televised my fights. No one has made me; I made myself. I paid my dues."
- Sugar Ray Leonard
(Related: Talent)
"Back home everyone said I didn't have any talent. They might be saying the same thing here but it sounds better in French."
- Alan Jay Lerner
(Related: Home, Talent, Saying)
"There's a lot of women in the WNBA. There's a lot of women who could be here. To be voted by the fans says a lot - that people are aware of what's going on. I'm really thankful. I think they just really appreciate my talent so I'm definitely grateful."
- Lisa Leslie
(Related: Women, Talent, People, Fans)
"Any human anywhere will blossom in a hundred unexpected talents and capacities simply by being given the opportunity to do so."
- Doris Lessing
(Related: Opportunity, Being, Will)
"I am no more humble than my talents require."
- Oscar Levant
"Murder, like talent, seems occasionally to run in families."
- George Henry Lewes
(Related: Talent, Murder)
"I may be the most recognizable name in the cast, but I can guarantee that I am not the most talented."
- Huey Lewis
(Related: May, Name)
"Other people - they practice and they practice... these fingers of mine, they got brains in 'em. You don't tell them what to do - they do it. God given talent."
- Jerry Lee Lewis
(Related: God, Talent, People, Practice)
"People hate me because I am a multifaceted, talented, wealthy, internationally famous genius."
- Jerry Lewis
(Related: Genius, People, Famous, Hate)
"I knew nothing about martial arts. The coach told me I was talented with learning martial arts, and put me in a school. Three years later I got my first championship in China."
- Jet Li
(Related: Coach, First, Learning, Nothing, School, Years)
"There are people who possess not so much genius as a certain talent for perceiving the desires of the century, or even of the decade, before it has done so itself."
- Georg C. Lichtenberg
(Related: Talent, Genius, People)
"Just as the performance of the vilest and most wicked deeds requires spirit and talent, so even the greatest demand a certain insensitivity which under other circumstances we would call stupidity."
- Georg C. Lichtenberg
(Related: Talent, Performance, Circumstances, Deeds, Spirit, Stupidity)
"Hollywood has a way of sucking the world's talent to it."
- Richard Linklater
(Related: Talent, Hollywood, World)
"I hope that we can continue this cooperation on other critical issues related to America's future technological competitiveness. We must work together to encourage the creative talents that have made our country the world leader in technology."
- Dan Lipinski
(Related: Technology, Work, Leader, Hope, America, Cooperation, Country, Future, World)
"Everybody on our cast is very musically talented, except for me."
- Blake Lively
"Eric McCormack is directing talent waiting to happen."
- Ron Livingston
(Related: Talent, Waiting)
"I think there are a lot of other actors that are just talented, it's just about this opportunity - it's just about when are we going to be put in those positions where we can shine."
- Nia Long
(Related: Opportunity, Actors)
"The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well, and doing well whatever you do without thought of fame. If it comes at all it will come because it is deserved, not because it is sought after."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(Related: Success, Talent, Thought, Fame, Nothing, Will)
"There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age."
- Sophia Loren
(Related: Age, Life, Love, People, Creativity, Mind, Will)
"Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner drive, go so much further than people with vastly superior talent."
- Sophia Loren
(Related: Faith, Talent, People, Profession)
"Oh absolutely. I had the pleasure to get to know a lot of really talented young actors before they even really hit it big. And yet what we all had and shared in common was a love for movies."
- Chad Lowe
(Related: Love, Movies, Actors, Pleasure)
"You could name the great stars of the silent screen who were finished; the great directors gone; the great title writers who were washed up. But remember this, as long as you live: the producers didn't lose a man. They all made the switch. That's where the great talent is."
- Ernst Lubitsch
(Related: Talent, Man, Name, Stars, Writers)
"Everybody has talent, it's just a matter of moving around until you've discovered what it is."
- George Lucas
(Related: Talent)
"Today it's almost impossible to do it unless you are an actress or writer with power... I wouldn't hesitate right this minute to hire a talented woman if the subject matter were right."
- Ida Lupino
(Related: Power, Right, Today, Woman, Writer)
"I didn't have time for talent shows and stuff like that. I was into books and studying real hard."
- Cheryl Lynn
(Related: Time, Talent, Books)
"He had a wonderful talent for packing thought close, and rendering it portable."
- Thomas B. Macaulay
(Related: Talent, Thought)
"If you don't have talent or preparation for whatever you want to do, you will not be successful in anything."
- Alicia Machado
(Related: Talent, Successful, Preparation, Want, Will)
"Whenever a youth is ascertained to possess talents meriting an education which his parents cannot afford, he should be carried forward at the public expense."
- James Madison
(Related: Education, Parents, Public, Youth)
"I also had a brother who was like me a musician and a composer. A man of great talent, far more gifted than I. He died very young... he killed himself in the prime of his life."
- Gustav Mahler
(Related: Life, Brother, Talent, Man)
"If a person is not talented enough to be a novelist, not smart enough to be a lawyer, and his hands are too shaky to perform operations, he becomes a journalist."
- Norman Mailer
"Does anybody really think that they didn't get what they had because they didn't have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment?"
- Nelson Mandela
(Related: Talent, Strength, Commitment, Endurance)
"I have been singing for the last 50 years, you know, so I deserve a break. Besides, there are talented singers around who can do justice to their work."
- Lata Mangeshkar
(Related: Work, Justice, Singing, Years)
"I also used to work in the Catskill Mountains as a bus boy, and I performed in talent shows."
- Barry Mann
(Related: Work, Talent, Mountains)
"Timing and arrogance are decisive factors in the successful use of talent."
- Marya Mannes
(Related: Talent, Successful, Arrogance)
"Elvis transcends his talent to the point of dispensing with it altogether."
- Greil Marcus
(Related: Talent)
"Sure, the home-field is an advantage - but so is having a lot of talent."
- Dan Marino
(Related: Home, Talent)
"Jazz is not the kind of music you are going to learn to play in three or four years or that you can just get because you have some talent for music."
- Wynton Marsalis
(Related: Music, Talent, Jazz, Play, Years)
"Talent is a gift that brings with it an obligation to serve the world, and not ourselves, for it is not of our making."
- Jose Marti
(Related: Talent, Obligation, World)
"To busy oneself with what is futile when one can do something useful, to attend to what is simple when one has the mettle to attempt what is difficult, is to strip talent of its dignity."
- Jose Marti
(Related: Talent, Dignity)
"Culture, which makes talent shine, is not completely ours either, nor can we place it solely at our disposal. Rather, it belongs mainly to our country, which gave it to us, and to humanity, from which we receive it as a birthright."
- Jose Marti
(Related: Talent, Country, Culture, Humanity)
"You know as I started as a shy young conductor, I always wanted to cooperate. To build up the musicians. To help them to be better than without a conductor. And sometimes young talented musicians have to be encouraged."
- Kurt Masur
(Related: Help, Musicians)
"Our opportunities to do good are our talents."
- Cotton Mather
"Every actor looks all his life for a part that will combine his talents with his personality... 'The Odd Couple' was mine. That was the plutonium I needed. It all started happening after that."
- Walter Matthau
(Related: Life, Actor, Personality, Will)
"I'm very fond of the Talent series, and also the Crystal Singer trio."
- Anne McCaffrey
(Related: Talent)
"If Roger stopped right now and never won another match, to me he'd already be one of the greatest players to ever play the game. To me, he's the greatest all around talent that I've ever seen."
- John McEnroe
(Related: Talent, Now, Play, Right)
"The talent of a true writer and poet is in the ear."
- Bryant H. McGill
(Related: Talent, Writer)
"You have to have talent. You have to get the audition and then you have to nail the audition."
- Joel McHale
(Related: Talent)
"Oh, and Scott, get Mark to play me. He's the most talented one anyway."
- Mark McKinney
(Related: Play)
"Jackie had a keen eye for talent, and like an elephant never forgot. And, he was always right on the mark."
- Audrey Meadows
(Related: Talent, Eye, Right)
"We are not equally talented. Steve is enormously talented."
- Jayne Meadows
"I respect his talents, even as he does mine."
- Jayne Meadows
(Related: Respect)
"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."
- Bernard Meltzer
(Related: Birds, Joy, Will, World)
"Actors get pigeonholed very quickly, particularly movie actors. In the theater, one is more used to casting people against type and trusting that their talent and skill will get them through."
- Sam Mendes
(Related: Talent, People, Actors, Skill, Theater, Will)
"Too much youth, hunger, mission, and talent."
- Larry Merchant
(Related: Talent, Hunger, Mission, Youth)
"It destroys the soul to hear that you're all hype, that you have no talent, and that your whole career has been contrived."
- Freddie Mercury
(Related: Talent, Soul, Career)
"I'll pat myself on the back and admit I have talent. Beyond that, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."
- Ethel Merman
(Related: Time, Talent, Right)
"My older brother Mike is an excellent trumpet player. By the time he was 12, he was playing around Kansas City in classical situations. He was already an amazing talent."
- Pat Metheny
(Related: Time, Brother, Talent)
"Yes, look, social class is definitely an issue in Britain, it is definitely an issue and I think that most people across the country would sympathise with the idea that there are lots of people with talent and ability all across this country who want to make more of themselves and part of the responsibility of government is to make that happen."
- Ed Miliband
(Related: Government, Talent, People, Idea, Ability, Class, Country, Responsibility, Want)
"It's one thing to have talent. It's another to figure out how to use it."
- Roger Miller
(Related: Talent)
"It was like an older but better version of Young Talent Time because we had more time to spend on it. There were three guys and three girls and we made thirteen episodes that were sold in the United States and Canada."
- Dannii Minogue
(Related: Time, Talent, Canada, Girls, states, United)
"If you're part of a record company, you're a manufactured product. It doesn't mean that you're not talented."
- Kylie Minogue
(Related: Company)
"It was used for decades to describe talented computer enthusiasts, people whose skill at using computers to solve technical problems and puzzles was - and is - respected and admired by others possessing similar technical skills."
- Kevin Mitnick
(Related: Computers, People, Problems, Skill)
"In the battle of existence, Talent is the punch; Tact is the clever footwork."
- Wilson Mizner
(Related: Talent, Battle, Existence, Tact)
"To be a dramatic writer takes hard work, talent, and discipline. And that's why I just make up crap."
- Colin Mochrie
(Related: Work, Talent, Discipline, Hard work, Writer)
"I knew I belonged to the public and to the world, not because I was talented or even beautiful, but because I had never belonged to anything or anyone else."
- Marilyn Monroe
(Related: Public, World)
"I have feelings too. I am still human. All I want is to be loved, for myself and for my talent."
- Marilyn Monroe
(Related: Talent, Feelings, Want)
"Talent is a gift which God has given us secretly, and which we reveal without perceiving it."
- Charles de Montesquieu
(Related: God, Talent)
"All fiction becomes autobiographical when the author has true talent."
- Jeanne Moreau
(Related: Talent, Fiction)
"I don't think success is harmful, as so many people say. Rather, I believe it indispensable to talent, if for nothing else than to increase the talent."
- Jeanne Moreau
(Related: Success, Talent, People, Nothing)
"Even Catholic parishes today are not wanting for talent. But no serious singer or organist will get anywhere near the typical music program, at least if he wants to retain his self-respect."
- Richard Morris
(Related: Music, Talent, Self, Today, Will)
"For two thousand years, the Church has guided the development of music, carefully legislating to fuse artistic talent and aesthetic beauty with the demands of the Faith."
- Richard Morris
(Related: Beauty, Faith, Music, Talent, Development, Church, Years)
"I think some aspects of writing can be taught. Obviously, you can't teach vision or talent. But you can help with comfort."
- Toni Morrison
(Related: Talent, Vision, Comfort, Help, Writing)
"I think it talks about the fact that there are black people in the world who have tremendous amount of talents and have no channel through which they can those talents."
- Joe Morton
(Related: People, Fact, World)
"The Negroes have little invention, but strong powers of imitation, so that they readily acquire mechanic arts. They have a great talent for music, and all their external senses are remarkably acute."
- Samuel George Morton
(Related: Music, Talent, Imitation, Invention, Senses)
"That so unlikely an outcome should accrue to a man possessed of such limited talent and so many flaws, and one lacking in a sense of ethics and decency was one of the bitter ironies of history."
- William Thomas Green Morton
(Related: History, Talent, Decency, Ethics, Flaws, Man, Sense)
"The elegance and the quality - the talent is always in the literature. I start with the word and I base everything on that. It doesn't make any difference to me."
- Kate Mulgrew
(Related: Quality, Talent, Difference, Elegance, Literature, Word)
"Youth must go ahead and prosper. These young painters are all very talented people, but they all paint frescoes."
- Edvard Munch
(Related: People, Youth)
"If I don't die in a plane crash or something, this country has a rare opportunity to watch a great talent grow."
- Eddie Murphy
(Related: Talent, Opportunity, Country)
"A particularly fine head on a man usually means that he is stupid; particularly deep philosophers are usually shallow thinkers; in literature, talents not much above the average are usually regarded by their contemporaries as geniuses."
- Robert Musil
(Related: Deep, Literature, Man)
"There is only one school of literature - that of talent."
- Vladimir Nabokov
(Related: Talent, Literature, School)
"Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work."
- Jack Nicklaus
(Related: Work, Talent, Confidence)
"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."
- Jack Nicklaus
(Related: Talent, Dedication)
"The talent is in the choices."
- Robert De Niro
(Related: Talent, Choices)
"Composers today get a TV script on Friday and have to record on Tuesday. It's just dreadful to impose on gifted talent and expect decent music under these conditions."
- Alex North
(Related: Music, Talent, Composers, Today)
"Talent can be developed, gift is God-given. But artists have both."
- Carroll O'Connor
(Related: God, Talent, Artists)
"I think you should make more movies, more musicals. I think the public deserves that. I think this country deserves to be able to get out and foster that talent. Give them an opportunity to become stars. I think the whole idea is wonderful."
- Donald O'Connor
(Related: Movies, Talent, Idea, Opportunity, Country, Public, Stars)
"The depth of John Candy's talent did surprise me. He was one of my all-time favorite leading men."
- Maureen O'Hara
(Related: Men, Talent, Favorite, Leading)
"When you get to that level, it's not a matter of talent anymore - because all the players are so talented - it's about preparation, about playing smart and making good decisions."
- Hakeem Olajuwon
(Related: Talent, Decisions, Preparation)
"A job should employ God-given talents in a way that glorifies Him."
- Marvin Olasky
(Related: God, Job)
"I do not think I'm a great talent. I think I'm a medium talent, but I think I understand the business and enjoy the business."
- Alex O'Loughlin
(Related: Business, Talent)
"Hopefully, I have a certain amount of what you call musical talent."
- Leo Ornstein
(Related: Talent)
"You see so many artists who are so talented end up living sad, empty lives. This industry takes so much out of you that without the accountability and leaving God in the center, you can be left so empty and void."
- Stacie Orrico
(Related: God, Artists, End, Living)
"The more work I do, the more important it is to work with people I like - who are very talented."
- Frank Oz
(Related: Work, People)
"Heaven help the American-born boy with a talent for ballet."
- Camille Paglia
(Related: Talent, American, Ballet, Heaven, Help)
"I'm aware of the fact that a lot of talented people out there will never get this chance."
- Brad Paisley
(Related: People, Chance, Fact, Will)
"It's a prizefight. Get off the stool, take your beating, go back to your corner, rest, and take a beating again. Believe in your own talent. Marry well."
- Bruce Paltrow
(Related: Talent, Rest)
"At first I wasn't sure that I had the talent, but I did know I had a fear of failure, and that fear compelled me to fight off anything that might abet it."
- Gordon Parks
(Related: Talent, Fear, Failure, Fight, First)
"Music is your own talent and is an important tool. Even if you don't want to be a role model, get ready to be in the public eye. Energy is there, you just have to use it."
- Sean Paul
(Related: Music, Talent, Energy, Eye, Public, Want)
"No one can arrive from being talented alone, work transforms talent into genius."
- Anna Pavlova
(Related: Work, Talent, Genius, Being)
"God gives talent. Work transforms talent into genius."
- Anna Pavlova
(Related: Work, Talent, Genius, God)
"Go out and have fun. Golf is a game for everyone, not just for the talented few."
- Harvey Penick
(Related: Fun, Golf)
"Whatever the course, whether the course was boring or interesting to me, whether I was talented in mathematics or not talented in languages, my parents expected A's."
- Martin Lewis Perl
(Related: Mathematics, Parents)
"For people who are really talented, what you don't say becomes extremely important. You have to judge what to say and what to leave alone so you can let the talent develop."
- Itzhak Perlman
(Related: Talent, People)
"It breaks my heart to see these young, really talented bands getting chewed up into the system. I remember a time if you'd signed to a major label it was such a sell out! But now... unless you've signed to a big label, you're a failure now."
- Mike Peters
(Related: Time, Heart, Failure, Now)
"Where talent is a dwarf, self-esteem is a giant."
- John Petit-Senn
(Related: Talent, Self)
"Two kinds of men generally best succeed in political life; men of no principle, but of great talent; and men of no talent, but of one principle - that of obedience to their superiors."
- Wendell Phillips
(Related: Men, Talent, Life, Obedience, Succeed)
"Its super to play with Martina, and she has huge amounts of talent. We have a lot of fun."
- Mary Pierce
(Related: Talent, Fun, Play)
"The real writer is one who really writes. Talent is an invention like phlogiston after the fact of fire. Work is its own cure. You have to like it better than being loved."
- Marge Piercy
(Related: Work, Talent, Being, Cure, Fact, Fire, Invention, Writer)
"The greatest talents often lie buried out of sight."
- Titus Maccius Plautus
(Related: Lie, Sight)
"Nothing is so sexy in a man as talent."
- Joan Plowright
(Related: Talent, Man, Nothing)
"Stupidity is a talent for misconception."
- Edgar Allan Poe
(Related: Talent, Stupidity)
"So, if you're doing good longform with talented people than you can step out and you can be the president or a construction worker and people accept that. It's really the roles you give yourself."
- Amy Poehler
(Related: People, President)
"I have been aware, from the age of 6, that I had talent."
- Dennis Potter
(Related: Age, Talent)
"I was given talent, and if you are given it, it is your obligation to use it."
- Dennis Potter
(Related: Talent, Obligation)
"As a person, he was wonderful. He really was a great person. He was full of life. He had a great sense of humor. Very talented, of course, but very caring to his parents. There was a very endearing quality about Elvis."
- Priscilla Presley
(Related: Humor, Life, Quality, Caring, Parents, Sense)
"He's got everything. He' not a great player yet because he hasn't won any major championships, but it's a matter of time. He's an outstanding talent. I didn't realize how tall he is."
- Nick Price
(Related: Time, Talent)
"I think the definition of an artist is not necessarily tied into excellence or talent; an artist is somebody who, if you took away their freedom to make art, would lose their mind."
- Richard Price
(Related: Art, Talent, Artist, Excellence, Freedom, Mind)
"There are plenty of clever young writers. But there is too much genius, not enough talent."
- J. B. Priestley
(Related: Talent, Genius, Writers)
"Consequently the student who is devoid of talent will derive no more profit from this work than barren soil from a treatise on agriculture."
- Quintilian
(Related: Work, Talent, Agriculture, Profit, Will)
"You can take wonderfully talented actors, wonderfully talented writers and producers, and, uh, do a wonderful show!... but if it doesn't hit with the public in two minutes, it's bye-bye."
- Charlotte Rae
(Related: Actors, Public, Writers)
"An artist should remain true. Otherwise his talent, like his stomach, grows fat and stuffy."
- Norman Reilly Raine
(Related: Talent, Artist)
"Money demands that you sell, not your weakness to men's stupidity, but your talent to their reason."
- Ayn Rand
(Related: Money, Talent, Men, Reason, Stupidity, Weakness)
"We should seek a system that provides outlets for those skills and talents so that everyone can find a way to work and serve in a manner that best suits the strengths of each individual."
- Lee R. Raymond
(Related: Work)
"I call upon the scientific community in our country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents now to the cause of mankind and world peace: to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Cause, Community, Country, Mankind, Now, Weapons, World)
"Sundance was started as a mechanism for the discovery of new voices and new talent."
- Robert Redford
(Related: Talent, Discovery)
"But I'm also talented and I know when I created something great and Perfect Night is something great, no doubt, no but."
- Lou Reed
(Related: Doubt, Night)
"Detroit is full of talent."
- Martha Reeves
(Related: Talent)
"In effect, I feel like a blind, deaf, and illiterate person working through the sensibilities and multiple, real talents of other people. Everything I do is collaborative."
- Godfrey Reggio
(Related: People, Blind, Effect)
"During my participation in the Manhattan Project and subsequent research at Los Alamos, encompassing a period of fifteen years, I worked in the company of perhaps the greatest collection of scientific talent the world has ever known."
- Frederick Reines
(Related: Talent, Company, Participation, Project, Research, World, Years)
"When you have a performer as talented as Bill Murray or as Harold, that can write as well as they can perform, you can do a final draft on the set if you think of it that way."
- Ivan Reitman
(Related: Draft)
"Talent is a matter of quantity. Talent does not write on page, it writes three hundred."
- Jules Renard
(Related: Talent, Quantity)
"As simple as it sounds, we all must try to be the best person we can: by making the best choices, by making the most of the talents we've been given."
- Mary Lou Retton
(Related: Choices)
"If you have great talents, industry will improve them: if you have but moderate abilities, industry will supply their deficiency."
- Joshua Reynolds
(Related: Will)
"There is a real diversity of talent and background on the A list so as to better reflect our society in all walks. There are people who have been candidates before, Councillors, Doctors, business leaders, charity campaigners."
- Adam Rickitt
(Related: Business, Society, Talent, People, Charity, Diversity, Doctors, Leaders)
"Talent is an accident of genes - and a responsibility."
- Alan Rickman
(Related: Talent, Accident, Responsibility)
"You can never have enough talent."
- Pat Riley
(Related: Talent)
"To that movement, consecrated by religious principle, sustained by an awful sense of justice, and cheered by the brightest hopes of future good, all our powers, talents, and attainments are devoted."
- George Ripley
(Related: Future, Justice, Religious, Sense)
"I don't have a lot of respect for talent. Talent is genetic. It's what you do with it that counts."
- Martin Ritt
(Related: Talent, Respect)
"Ideas are a capital that bears interest only in the hands of talent."
- Antoine Rivarol
(Related: Talent, Ideas, Interest)
"Generally speaking, there is more wit than talent in the world. Society swarms with witty people who lack talent."
- Antoine Rivarol
(Related: Society, Talent, People, Wit, Witty, World)
"Talent is being able to please people."
- Marty Robbins
(Related: Talent, People, Being)
"The higher your energy level, the more efficient your body The more efficient your body, the better you feel and the more you will use your talent to produce outstanding results."
- Tony Robbins
(Related: Talent, Body, Energy, Results, Will)
"With my talent, I can make people laugh and give them another attitude about life. What a blessing that is for me."
- Doris Roberts
(Related: Life, Talent, People, Attitude)
"And I was asked if I would come and help with the recovery of this great British company, Cable and Wireless, and I'm delighted to become part of the new and very talented management that have been brought in to that company as well."
- Lord Robertson
(Related: Management, Company, Help)
"As great minds have the faculty of saying a great deal in a few words, so lesser minds have a talent of talking much, and saying nothing."
- Francois de La Rochefoucauld
(Related: Talent, Nothing, Saying, Talking, Words)
"No man with a conscience can just bat out illustrations. He's got to put all his talent and feeling into them!"
- Norman Rockwell
(Related: Talent, Conscience, Feeling, Man)
"There would not be enough talent that's educated, developed and ready to take on the next leadership challenge, and it would cap our growth. Now we've put programs in place not to have that happen, but that could be a weakness."
- Kevin Rollins
(Related: Leadership, Talent, Growth, Challenge, Now, Weakness)
"People would read all kinds of reaction into it, but Tracy told me himself that half the time he was just standing very still, trying to look sober and composed. That takes nothing away from him. The fact he got away with it was a tribute to his talent."
- Cesar Romero
(Related: Time, Talent, People, Fact, Nothing, Tribute, Trying)
"Bob Dylan has a way with words that simply blows me away. When he forgets his lyrics he just makes up new ones on the spot, that is what I called talented!"
- Gavin Rossdale
(Related: Words)
"However great a man's natural talent may be, the act of writing cannot be learned all at once."
- Jean Jacques Rousseau
(Related: Talent, Act, Man, May, Writing)
"It is a very rare thing for a man of talent to succeed by his talent."
- Joseph Roux
(Related: Talent, Man, Succeed)
"My talent is such that no undertaking, however vast in size... has ever surpassed my courage."
- Peter Paul Rubens
(Related: Talent, Courage)
"The one great thing about a continuing collaboration is that they know you. And if you're really lucky, they really believe in you and think that your talent has some unending bounds to it."
- Mark Ruffalo
(Related: Talent, Collaboration)
"I can evaluate a player in a very short period of time because I'm very close to that game, very educated in that game and played the game for a long, long time. I wasn't just a guy with talent. I learned a lot about the game."
- Kurt Russell
(Related: Time, Talent, Evaluate)
"Enjoying success requires the ability to adapt. Only by being open to change will you have a true opportunity to get the most from your talent."
- Nolan Ryan
(Related: Change, Success, Talent, Opportunity, Ability, Being, Open, Will)
"It always amazed me that he was able to do it, and that Orson Welles was able to do it. I never understood it because the talents are absolutely opposite - polar opposites."
- Mark Rydell
(Related: Opposites)
"If people ask me for the ingredients of success, I say one is talent, two is stubbornness or determination, and third is sheer luck. You have to have two out of the three. Any two will probably do."
- Fred Saberhagen
(Related: Success, Talent, People, Determination, Luck, Will)
"After Proust, there are certain things that simply cannot be done again. He marks off for you the boundaries of your talent."
- Francoise Sagan
(Related: Talent)
"Digital imaging allows both groups to rise above the limitations of mess and clutter and mechanics, and apply our talents to creating images limited only by our imaginations."
- Buffy Sainte-Marie
(Related: Limitations)
"A book is never a masterpiece: it becomes one. Genius is the talent of a dead man."
- Carl Sandburg
(Related: Talent, Genius, Man)
"The relationship between talent and management is uneasy, at best."
- Jessica Savitch
(Related: Talent, Management)
"In a movie you have all these logistical problems; all these practical problems. But you're also going to have people come who can do things that you can't do, and you get to direct their talents."
- John Sayles
(Related: People, Problems)
"Utility is the great idol of the age, to which all powers must do service and all talents swear allegiance."
- Friedrich Schiller
(Related: Age, Service)
"What I have is a bunch of really hungry, amazingly talented guys that can kick anybody's rear end."
- Neil Schon
(Related: End)
"With people of limited ability modesty is merely honesty. But with those who possess great talent it is hypocrisy."
- Arthur Schopenhauer
(Related: Talent, People, Honesty, Ability, Hypocrisy, Modesty)
"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see."
- Arthur Schopenhauer
(Related: Talent, Genius)
"After the war, once the bop revolution had taken hold, there were all kinds of young musicians, talented young musicians, who were ready for this fusion of classical and jazz."
- Gunther Schuller
(Related: War, Revolution, Jazz, Musicians)
"Talent works, genius creates."
- Robert Schumann
(Related: Talent, Genius)
"In the large cities that received new Americans, there flowered a golden age of restaurants, manned by the available talent from abroad and fueled by the restless wealth of the newly rich."
- David Joseph Schwartz
(Related: Age, Talent, Wealth, Americans, Cities, Restaurants)
"Ry Cooder for me is a master, a great master that has a wonderful feel for Cuban music. He's also paid tribute my talent a bit, even though I don't know half of what he knows."
- Compay Segundo
(Related: Music, Talent, Tribute)
"America does not need gorgeous halls and concert rooms for its musical development, but music schools with competent teachers, and many, very many, free scholarships for talented young disciples who are unable to pay the expense of study."
- Anton Seidl
(Related: Music, Development, America, Schools, Study, Teachers)
"People think I must have been so talented at an early age, but I don't know - was it talent or hard work? Who knows?"
- Monica Seles
(Related: Age, Work, Talent, People, Hard work)
"Shun no toil to make yourself remarkable by some talent or other; yet do not devote yourself to one branch exclusively. Strive to get clear notions about all. Give up no science entirely; for science is but one."
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca
(Related: Science, Talent, Remarkable)
"It is essential that we put an end to steroid abuse and set a better example for aspiring young athletes to follow, so that some day, when they make it in the All Star Game, it will be because of their own natural talents, and not because of a performance enhancing product."
- Jim Sensenbrenner
(Related: Performance, Abuse, Athletes, Day, End, Example, Will)
"Can you imagine what it would be like if all the Aussie film talent was able to make Australian stories?"
- Yahoo Serious
(Related: Talent, Film)
"Some people possess talent, others are possessed by it. When that happens, a talent becomes a curse."
- Rod Serling
(Related: Talent, People)
"Write verse, not poetry. The public wants verse. If you have a talent for poetry, then don't by any means mother it, but try your hand at verse."
- Robert W. Service
(Related: Poetry, Mother, Talent, Public)
"An absolutely necessary part of a writer's equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the ability to stand up under punishment, both the punishment the world hands out and the punishment he inflicts upon himself."
- Irwin Shaw
(Related: Talent, Ability, Punishment, World, Writer)
"The romantic idea is that everybody around a writer must suffer for his talent. I think a writer is a citizen of humanity, part of his nation, part of his family. He may have to make some compromises."
- Irwin Shaw
(Related: Family, Talent, Idea, Humanity, May, Nation, Romantic, Writer)
"The ability to get ahead in an organization is simply another talent, like the ability to play chess, paint pictures, do coronary bypass operations or pick pockets."
- Robert Shea
(Related: Talent, Ability, Chess, Play)
"Talent is a gift that can be given, and it can be taken away. We have to appreciate that."
- Sidney Sheldon
(Related: Talent)
"You may not have any extra talent, but maybe you are just paying more attention to what you are doing."
- Alan Shepard
(Related: Talent, Attention, May)
"You have to be there not for the fame and glory and recognition and being a page in a history book, but you have to be there because you believe your talent and ability can be applied effectively to operation of the spacecraft."
- Alan Shepard
(Related: History, Talent, Ability, Being, Fame, Glory)
"Again, talent is the real import of being in the business."
- Bobby Sherman
(Related: Business, Talent, Being)
"If you've got talent, stick with it... because talent wins out, without a doubt."
- Bobby Sherman
(Related: Talent, Doubt)
"You don't necessarily have to be in misery to be talented."
- Brooke Shields
(Related: Misery)
"Tell me I'm clever, Tell me I'm kind, Tell me I'm talented, Tell me I'm cute, Tell me I'm sensitive, Graceful and wise, Tell me I'm perfect - But tell me the truth."
- Shel Silverstein
(Related: Truth, Cute)
"Tact is one of the first mental virtues, the absence of it is fatal to the best talent."
- William Gilmore Simms
(Related: Talent, Absence, First, Tact)
"I don't consider myself to be a major talent, so the only solace I can take is to hope I'm growing."
- Paul Simon
(Related: Talent, Hope)
"Most of the dogmatic religions have exhibited a perverse talent for taking the wrong side on the most important concepts in the material universe, from the structure of the solar system to the origin of man."
- George G. Simpson
(Related: Talent, Man, Universe, Wrong)
"People often remark that I'm pretty lucky. Luck is only important in so far as getting the chance to sell yourself at the right moment. After that, you've got to have talent and know how to use it."
- Frank Sinatra
(Related: Talent, People, Chance, Luck, Pretty, Right)
"The War on Drugs employs millions - politicians, bureaucrats, policemen, and now the military - that probably couldn't find a place for their dubious talents in a free market, unless they were to sell pencils from a tin cup on street corners."
- L. Neil Smith
(Related: War, Drugs, Military, Now, Politicians)
"A best-seller is the gilded tomb of a mediocre talent."
- Logan P. Smith
(Related: Talent)
"Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability."
- Roy L. Smith
(Related: Talent, Discipline, Ability, Fire)
"A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort."
- Sydney Smith
(Related: Men, Talent, Courage, Day, Effort, First, Timidity, Want, World)
"Whatever you are by nature, keep to it; never desert your line of talent. Be what nature intended you for, and you will succeed."
- Sydney Smith
(Related: Nature, Talent, Succeed, Will)
"Talent is always conscious of its own abundance, and does not object to sharing."
- Alexander Solzehnitsyn
(Related: Talent, Abundance, Sharing)
"I firmly believe that we have more latent musical talent in America than there is in any other country. But to dig it out there must be good music throughout the land, a lot of it. Everyone must hear it, and such a process takes time."
- John Philip Sousa
(Related: Music, Time, Talent, America, Country, Land)
"Every act I see, their whole act is choreographed. I'm sick of seeing these dancers. The only reason they have them is they don't have enough talent to get people dancing themselves."
- Ronnie Spector
(Related: Talent, People, Act, Dancing, Reason)
"The failure of women to produce genius of the first rank in most of the supreme forms of human effort has been used to block the way of all women of talent and ambition for intellectual achievement."
- Anna Garlin Spencer
(Related: Women, Talent, Genius, Achievement, Failure, Ambition, Effort, First, Rank)
"When I have sat at home with this God-given talent for music for a long time, somebody approaches me out of the blue and asks me to play for them. It's almost as though there's a force somewhere which is saying 'no sittin' around, out you go!"
- Jeremy Spencer
(Related: Home, Music, Time, Talent, God, Force, Play, Saying)
"Sincerity makes the very least person to be of more value than the most talented hypocrite."
- Charles Spurgeon
(Related: Sincerity, Value)
"My bad habits aren't my title. My strengths and my talent are my title."
- Layne Staley
(Related: Talent, Habits)
"Talent is nothing but a prolonged period of attention and a shortened period of mental assimilation."
- Konstantin Stanislavisky
(Related: Talent, Attention, Nothing)
"If you work harder than somebody else, chances are you'll beat him though he has more talent than you."
- Bart Starr
(Related: Work, Talent)
"It was such a turning point to find that I had a talent and I had something to contribute, somewhere."
- Gwen Stefani
(Related: Talent)
"Talent was not rare; the ability to survive having it was."
- Neal Stephenson
(Related: Talent, Ability)
"I think people of lesser talent will become stars."
- Howard Stern
(Related: Talent, People, Stars, Will)
"A man possesses talent; genius possesses the man."
- Isaac Stern
(Related: Talent, Genius, Man)
"I had to act in a school play when I was about ten years old. I really didn't want to do it. But everyone had to do it so I didn't have a choice. A talent agent came and watched it and later gave me some work. It's funny because I'd always known that I wanted a movie career. I just didn't think that I would be in the movies."
- Kristen Stewart
(Related: Funny, Movies, Work, Talent, Act, Career, Choice, Old, Play, School, Want, Years)
"Whatever talent I had, I'm sure it helped that my parents were in the business and that I grew up around actors, comedians and directors."
- Ben Stiller
(Related: Business, Talent, Actors, Comedians, Parents)
"The worst thing in this business is to be thought of as a no-talent."
- Jerry Stiller
(Related: Business, Thought)
"I was born out of due time in the sense that by temperament and talent I should have been more suited for the life of a small Bach, living in anonymity and composing regularly for an established service and for God."
- Igor Stravinsky
(Related: Life, Time, Talent, God, Living, Sense, Service, Temperament)
"There are wonderfully talented actresses. It's a really rich field. There isn't as rich a field of material."
- Meryl Streep
"If I am not right for something there are many talented actors out there that will get it."
- Tara Strong
(Related: Actors, Right, Will)
"I just feel energized when I am around young, talented people. There is something about these kids that's amazing. I learn as much from them as they do from me."
- Sally Struthers
(Related: People, Kids)
"More men fail through lack of purpose than lack of talent."
- Billy Sunday
(Related: Men, Talent, Purpose)
"You have a little bit of talent, a certain amount of good fortune and a lot of hard work in pursuit of whatever truth you can find in it, and if you are really lucky, a terrific partner and I have that and those four things worked out for me."
- Donald Sutherland
(Related: Work, Talent, Truth, Fortune, Hard work, Pursuit)
"Much as I cared for Joseph Kennedy, he was a classic example of that person in the arts with lots of brains and drive but little taste or talent."
- Gloria Swanson
(Related: Talent, Example, Taste)
"Invention is the talent of youth, as judgment is of age."
- Jonathan Swift
(Related: Age, Talent, Invention, Judgment, Youth)
"Interest is the spur of the people, but glory that of great souls. Invention is the talent of youth, and judgment of age."
- Jonathan Swift
(Related: Age, Talent, People, Glory, Interest, Invention, Judgment, Youth)
"But I think funny and talent will always win out; I mean, of course there are hurdles, but I think if you're funny you will get over all of that."
- Wanda Sykes
(Related: Funny, Talent, Will)
"Poetic talent doesn't operate in a vacuum. There is a spirit of Polish poetry."
- Wislawa Szymborska
(Related: Poetry, Talent, Spirit)
"But I don't think I have any particular talent for prediction, because when you have three or four elements in hand, you don't have to be a genius to reach certain conclusions."
- Antonio Tabucchi
(Related: Talent, Genius)
"We should not allow wealthy people, including corporate criminals, to hide their assets and avoid paying their bills."
- James Talent
(Related: People, Corporate)
"Each of us should take personal responsibility for our diet, and our children's diet, and the government's role should be to make certain it provides the best information possible to help people stay healthy."
- James Talent
(Related: Diet, Government, People, Children, Help, Information, Responsibility)
"I've always believed the two best anti-poverty programs are work and marriage."
- James Talent
(Related: Marriage, Work)
"If we hold true to our ideals and our commitment to freedom, this generation of servicemen and women will have extended liberty to the Iraqi people, just as previous generations of Americans have all across the globe."
- James Talent
(Related: Women, People, Americans, Commitment, Freedom, Generations, Ideals, Liberty, Will)
"The elections in Iraq are a victory for freedom and the Iraqi people, and a blow to the transnational network of terrorists who have tried to prevent this day from happening."
- James Talent
(Related: People, Victory, Day, Elections, Freedom, Iraq, Network)
"The old welfare system was hurting people by discouraging work and marriage. Welfare reform, and now this legislation, will build on the understanding that work and strong families are the foundation upon which we build our future."
- James Talent
(Related: Work, Marriage, People, Future, Legislation, Now, Old, Reform, Understanding, Welfare, Will)
"We need a defense budget that's big enough to sustain an increase in the size of the Army."
- James Talent
(Related: Army, Defense)
"I have very talented people dress me and put my makeup on, stuff like that. But I do love that look, and I think it's maybe because I grew up on that old glamour."
- Charlize Theron
(Related: Love, People, Dress, Glamour, Makeup, Old)
"My talent for playing the drums was a gift from God."
- Keith Thibodeaux
(Related: God, Talent)
"Whatever talents I possess may suddenly diminish or suddenly increase. I can with ease become an ordinary fool. I may be one now. But it doesn't do to upset one's own vanity."
- Dylan Thomas
(Related: Fool, May, Now, Vanity)
"Well we have a good working relationship with Microsoft at the development level. But let's not kid ourselves, this is a company with enormous resources and talented people, and there is a certain pride that comes along with that for them and for us."
- John W. Thompson
(Related: People, Development, Company, Pride)
"There has been no appreciable improvement in our country's ability to produce the kind of talent we need in this space. There have been some small initiatives around the country that have been noteworthy."
- John W. Thompson
(Related: Talent, Ability, Country, Improvement, Space)
"I think it is an inborn talent - just luck. Some people can learn languages; some can throw a ball. Most people have something. My talent is drawing and painting."
- Mike Thompson
(Related: Talent, People, Luck, Painting)
"Day after day, I spent long afternoons in the talent pool, being told how to walk, how to talk, how to sit."
- Gene Tierney
(Related: Talent, Being, Day, Talk)
"I had known Cole Porter in Hollywood and New York, spent many a warm hour at his home, and met the talented and original people who were drawn to him."
- Gene Tierney
(Related: Home, People, Hollywood)
"I simply did not want my face to be my talent."
- Gene Tierney
(Related: Talent, Want)
"I studied economics and made it my career for two reasons. The subject was and is intellectually fascinating and challenging, particularly to someone with taste and talent for theoretical reasoning and quantitative analysis."
- James Tobin
(Related: Talent, Career, Economics, Taste)
"I deplore any action which denies artistic talent an opportunity to express itself because of prejudice against race origin."
- Bess Truman
(Related: Talent, Opportunity, Action, Prejudice, Race)
"I really like Alan Jackson, in Country Music. I think he's really very, very talented along with George Jones, and Merle Haggard, the same old favorites."
- Tanya Tucker
(Related: Music, Country, Country music, Old)
"They would come down in Mississippi, they hired me as a talent scout. And I would go all over Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and find out different artists for them."
- Ike Turner
(Related: Talent, Artists)
"I don't want my body to be a distraction from my talent or my brain."
- Shania Twain
(Related: Talent, Body, Want)
"This is what I learned: that everybody is talented, original and has something important to say."
- Brenda Ueland
"As far as talent goes, we had pretty much everything, and I think that's why this year was so successful."
- Carrie Underwood
(Related: Talent, Successful, Pretty)
"Desire! That's the one secret of every man's career. Not education. Not being born with hidden talents. Desire."
- Bobby Unser
(Related: Education, Being, Career, Desire, Man)
"Then there was Clark Ashton Smith, who wrote for Weird Tales and who had a wild imagination. He wasn't a very talented writer, but his imagination was wonderful."
- Jack Vance
(Related: Imagination, Writer)
"The greatest evil which fortune can inflict on men is to endow them with small talents and great ambition."
- Marquis De Vauvenargues
(Related: Men, Ambition, Evil, Fortune)
"We have to put in our time every day to try and achieve and learn so that we can develop our talents and each of you, thank goodness, have special talents; each of you are special persons."
- Bruce Vento
(Related: Time, Day, Goodness)
"I was a guy who needed to go to class, because I had some raw talent that I thought was identifiable, when I finally made a decision to be an actor. And yet I wanted to learn how to really do the stuff. You know, 'How do I get to be a serious actor?'"
- Jon Voight
(Related: Talent, Thought, Decision, Actor, Class)
"What impresses me is the young actors with terrific talent arriving on the scene. They'd have blown us all away in the old days. Guys like Brad Pitt."
- Robert Wagner
(Related: Talent, Actors, Old)
"A lot of talented actors still have to pay their bills."
- Mark Wahlberg
(Related: Actors)
"The winner's edge is not in a gifted birth, a high IQ, or in talent. The winner's edge is all in the attitude, not aptitude. Attitude is the criterion for success."
- Denis Waitley
(Related: Success, Talent, Attitude)
"My God given talent is my ability to stick with training longer than anybody else."
- Herschel Walker
(Related: God, Talent, Ability, Training)
"My father was a stone mason, and a talented amateur pianist and vocalist."
- John E. Walker
(Related: Father)
"I still have my talent to produce and direct."
- Marc Wallice
(Related: Talent)
"Talent will come out."
- Ray Walston
(Related: Talent, Will)
"I'm massively talented, and very, very beautiful in person; the public don't really realise that."
- Julie Walters
(Related: Public)
"Billy Campbell who is... I... truly one of the most talented actors today."
- Sela Ward
(Related: Actors, Today)
"Paul Newman's an old friend of ours out of Cleveland, Ohio. He used to sit around our house. He's the only man I've ever known to drink a case of beer all by himself. That's talent in a way."
- Lew Wasserman
(Related: Talent, Friend, Beer, Man, Old)
"It's the most extraordinary and saddest thing, the amount of talent out there not being seen."
- Gedde Watanabe
(Related: Talent, Being)
"Reality TV finds talented people. There are no scripts. The editing is what it's all about. Great editing makes those shows."
- Pete Waterman
(Related: People, Reality)
"I don't think playing a villain is my greatest talent."
- Sam Waterston
(Related: Talent)
"I think punk rock, especially for me, was a big middle finger to this whole talent thing."
- Mike Watt
(Related: Talent, Punk)
"But I would have executed much greater things, had not government always opposed my exertions, and placed others in situations which would have suited my talents."
- Adam Weishaupt
(Related: Government)
"My main job was developing talent. I was a gardener providing water and other nourishment to our top 750 people. Of course, I had to pull out some weeds, too."
- Jack Welch
(Related: Talent, People, Job, Water)
"Globalization has changed us into a company that searches the world, not just to sell or to source, but to find intellectual capital - the world's best talents and greatest ideas."
- Jack Welch
(Related: Ideas, Company, Globalization, World)
"Well, it was one of my most gratifying experiences because I could devote my knowledge and my talent for the good for the City of Washington, and all the Federal projects where the Fine Arts Commission had jurisdiction, and it was a tremendous experience."
- Felix de Weldon
(Related: Experience, Talent, Knowledge, Projects, Washington)
"There are guys in the game only because of steroids. They couldn't make it with their natural talent, so they had to enhance themselves. It sucks."
- David Wells
(Related: Talent)
"Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely necessary."
- Jessamyn West
(Related: Talent, Writing)
"But day in and day out, the most stimulating part of the work is being a member of a team of so many very bright, articulate and talented professionals."
- Randy West
(Related: Work, Being, Day, professionals)
"It's just such a pleasure to bring a talent you respect to the world."
- Tina Weymouth
(Related: Talent, Pleasure, Respect, World)
"There are many people that struggle and struggle and have all the talent in the world, but for some reason they are not successful. You never know why those things happen."
- Bryan White
(Related: Talent, People, Successful, Reason, Struggle, World)
"That's really what was wonderful for me growing up, since I got to know so many of the songwriters who liked me and thought I had talent. They would then tell me how to read a lyric and sing a song, and challenge me to try and find a different end to a song."
- Margaret Whiting
(Related: Talent, Thought, Challenge, End, Growing up, Song)
"Real talent will get through whatever the obstacles."
- Kim Wilde
(Related: Talent, Obstacles, Will)
"I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works."
- Oscar Wilde
(Related: Life, Talent, Genius)
"I think this is a very good look at how to tackle this effort. The resources and the talent are here, but now we've got to move forward with some sort of direction."
- Alvin Williams
(Related: Talent, Direction, Effort, Now)
"Talent is a flame. Genius is a fire."
- Bern Williams
(Related: Talent, Genius, Fire)
"I've learned over the years that people are human and have mood swings, regardless of how talented they are. Today, I'm looking at life from a realistic point of view instead of the way I would want things to be."
- Otis Williams
(Related: Life, People, Today, Want, Years)
"Through this additional support, we must renew our commitment to provide talented young people with the opportunity to build scientific careers based on their curiosity, the same opportunity that was provided to me when I began my work."
- Kenneth G. Wilson
(Related: Work, People, Opportunity, Careers, Commitment, Curiosity, Support)
"Jazz is the last refuge of the untalented. Jazz musicians enjoy themselves more than anyone listening to them does."
- Tony Wilson
(Related: Jazz, Listening, Musicians)
"If a man has talent and can't use it, he's failed. If he uses only half of it, he has partly failed. If he uses the whole of it, he has succeeded, and won a satisfaction and triumph few men ever know."
- Thomas Wolfe
(Related: Men, Talent, Man, Satisfaction)
"Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character."
- John Wooden
(Related: Talent, Character, Winning)
"I'd rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent."
- John Wooden
(Related: Experience, Talent)
"Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful."
- John Wooden
(Related: God, Talent, Conceit, Fame, Man, Self)
"In the long run, there is not much discrimination against superior talent."
- Carter G. Woodson
(Related: Talent, Discrimination)
"I was born with a natural gift. My mother recognized the talent."
- Bernie Worrell
(Related: Mother, Talent)
"I thought I saw him for what he was-or what I thought he was. And he was talented, no doubt about that. But, he thought his talent was based on misery and that if he became happy it would just go. He believed that."
- Fay Wray
(Related: Talent, Thought, Doubt, Misery)
"How are men to be secured in any rights without instruction; how to be secured in the equal exercise of those rights without equality of instruction? By instruction understand me to mean knowledge - just knowledge; not talent, not genius, not inventive mental powers."
- Frances Wright
(Related: Equality, Men, Talent, Genius, Knowledge, Exercise, Rights)
"We worked very hard to make the lyrics suit the music. I can't, like Elton John, for example, compose by lyrics. Elton has a great talent for that. Whatever you give him, including your questions, he composes in half an hour and makes a great song out of it."
- Rick Wright
(Related: Music, Talent, Example, Questions, Song)
"I guess I just don't have a talent for it, some women just aren't the marrying kind - or anyway, not the permanent marrying kind, and I'm one of them."
- Jane Wyman
(Related: Women, Talent)
"I was lucky enough to have the talent to play baseball. That's how I treated my career. I didn't think I was anybody special, anybody different."
- Carl Yastrzemski
(Related: Talent, Baseball, Career, Play)
"I'm quite sure that most writers would sustain real poetry if they could, but it takes devotion and talent."
- Marguerite Young
(Related: Poetry, Talent, Devotion, Writers)
"I totally have no other talent and I would be totally out of work if I did anything else."
- Neil Young
(Related: Work, Talent)
"You look like a talent scout for a cemetery."
- Henny Youngman
(Related: Talent)
"Here was a man with loads of talent, loads of ability, lots of love to give; but that had been stifled and aborted. I became very fond of that character."
- Michael Zaslow
(Related: Love, Talent, Character, Ability, Man)
"What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle and giving 110 percent all the time."
- Don Zimmer
(Related: Time, Talent, Desire, Giving)
"There are actors who spend 20 years working and still don't achieve what I've achieved so quickly. So I think my only course of action is to work as hard as I can, not just for the sake of the film, but also to prove to these people that I do have talent."
- Zhang Ziyi
(Related: Work, Talent, People, Action, Actors, Film, Years)