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Talent Quotes

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Talent Quotes

“I take no pride in my artistic talents; they are God-given and I see absolutely no reason to become puffed up over something that one has received.”

Reason Given Talent Pride Artistic No Reason Artistic Talent

Author:Igor Stravinsky

“Only in recent history has "working hard" signaled pride rather than shame for lack of talent, finesse and, mostly, sprezzatura .”

Hard Talent Pride Shame Finesse

Book:The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms

Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms

“Genius, with all its pride in its own strength, is but a dependent quality, and cannot put forth its whole powers nor claim all its honors without an amount of aid from the talents and labors of others which it is difficult to calculate.”

Whole Difficult Quality Talent Pride Amount Genius Honor Labor Claims Aids Dependent

Author:William C. Bryant

“Men famed for wit, of dangerous talents vain, Treat those of common parts with proud disdain; The powers that wisdom would, improving, hide, They blaze abroad, with inconsid'rate pride; While yet but mere probationers for fame, They seize the honor they should then disclaim: Honor so hurried to the light must fade, The lasting laurels nourish in the shade.”

Source: The Poetical Works of Crabbe, Heber, and Pollok: Complete in One Volume

“One would wonder to hear skeptical men disputing for the reason of animals, and telling us it is only our pride and prejudices that will not allow them the use of that faculty. Reason shows itself in all occurrences of life; whereas the brute makes no discovery of such a talent, but in what immediately regards his own preservation, or the continuance of his species. Animals in their generation are wiser than the sons of men; but their wisdom is confined to a few particulars, and lies in a very narrow compass. Take a brute out of his instinct, and you find him wholly deprived of understanding.”

Source: The spectator

“Men are apt to mistake, or at least to seem to mistake, their own talents, in hopes, perhaps, of misleading others to allow them that which they are conscious they do not possess. Thus lord Hardwicke valued himself more upon being a great minister of state, which he certainly was not, than upon being a great magistrate, which he certainly was.”

Men States Seems Mistake Lord Talent Pride Conscious Reputation Ministers Mislead Magistrates

Author:Lord Chesterfield

“Genius still means to me, in my Russian fastidiousness and pride of phrase, a unique dazzling gift. The gift of James Joyce, and not the talent of Henry James.”

Mean Stills Talent Pride Genius Unique Phrases Dazzling Joyce

Author:Vladimir Nabokov