Quotes about Talent

Genius lasts longer than beauty

Ridicule is the tribute paid to the genius by the mediocrities

Would you like to know the great drama of my life? It is that I have put my genius into my life...I have put only my talent into my works.

Music is a gift. We make it to give it away.

Play simple, and people will join in. Sing along. Which, by the way, is the goal. Our job is to put a song in their mouths and let them sing it back to us. That's all that really matters." Then he added, "The great players aren't great because of all the notes they can play, but because of the ones they don't play.

There are no grades of vanity, there are only grades of ability in concealing it.

The only gift is a portion of thyself.... the poet brings his poem... the farmer, corn... the painter, his picture; the girl, a handkerchief of her own sewing. This is right and pleasing, for it restores society in so far to its primary basis, when a man's biography is conveyed in his gift... But it is a cold, lifeless business, when you go to the shops to buy me something which does not represent your life and talent, but a goldsmith's.

When did I know I had talent? I think it started when I first started playing sports, organized sports.

You know, God gave me a gift to do other things besides play the game of basketball.

Your talent is God's gift to you; what you do with it is your gift to God.

I think that, initially, I was most passionate about music and particularly about playing the piano. I started playing when I was nine, and I was obsessed with it, really. I wouldn't even go spend the night at a friend's unless they had a piano. But I didn't have the chops, the extraordinary talent to be able to play the piano professionally.

I don't think I'm even close to fulfilling my potential. And I think also that, unlike a pianist or a flutist, an actor has an instrument that is constantly changing.