Selected talent quotes

1. The most exciting place to discover talent is in yourself.

2. Unfortunately, it's possible to be able to do something extremely well that nobody ever wants done.

3. As soon as I got out there I felt a strange relationship with the pitcher's mound. It was as if I'd been born out there. Pitching just felt like the most natural thing in the world. Striking out batters was easy.

4. When I was eleven, I just got good.

5. God felt sorry for actors, so he gave them a place in the sun and a lot of money. All they had to sacrifice was their talent.

6. I've always believed that acting is instinct to start with; you either have it or you don't.

7. Genius is present in every age, but the men carrying it within them remain benumbed unless extraordinary events occur to heat up and melt the mass so that it flows forth.

8. No matter how substandard you feel your skill or talent may be, If you never produce your art, the world will always remain deprived of it.

9. The storytelling gift is innate: one has it or one doesn't. But style is at least partly a learned thing: one refines it by looking and listening and reading and practice - by work.

10. I know that if I'd had to go and take an exam for acting, I wouldn't have got anywhere. You don't take exams for acting, you take your courage.

11. I wish the government would put a tax on pianos for the incompetent.

12. There never was a bad man that had ability for good service.

13. Jacobinism is the revolt of the enterprising talents of a country against its property.

14. Our doubts about ourselves cannot be banished except by working at that which is the one and only thing we know we ought to do. Other people's assertions cannot silence the howling dirge within us. It is our talents rusting unused within us that secrete the poison of self-doubt into our bloodstream.

15. The individual's most vital need is to prove his worth, and this usually means an insatiable hunger for action. For it is only the few who can acquire a sense of worth by developing and employing their capacities and talents. The majority prove their worth by keeping busy.

16. The most gifted members of the human species are at their creative best when they cannot have their way, and must compensate for what they miss by realizing and cultivating their capacities and talents.

17. 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.

18. 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'.

19. It takes a genius to whine appealingly.

20. A great architect is not made by way of a brain nearly so much as he is made by way of a cultivated, enriched heart.

21. Why, I just shake the buildings out of my sleeves.

22. Jimi Hendrix is very important. He's my idol. He sort of epitomizes, from his presentation on stage, the whole works of a rock star. There's no way you can compare him. You either have the magic or you don't. There's no way you can work up to it. There's nobody who can take his place.

23. Martyrdom, sir, is what these people like: it is the only way in which a man can become famous without ability.

24. For I think it is the case with genius that it is not when quiescent so very much above mediocrity as the difference between the two might lead us to think, but that it has the power and privilege of rising from that level to a height utterly far from mediocrity: in other words that its greatness is that it can be so great.

25. I hold with the old-fashioned criticism that Browning is not really a poet, that he has all the gifts but the one needful and the pearls without the string; rather one should say raw nuggets and rough diamonds.

26. Precocious talents mature slowly if at all.

27. A writer should get as much education as possible, but just going to school is not enough; if it were, all owners of doctorates would be inspired writers.

28. The old-fashioned idea that the simple piling up of experiences, one on top of another, can make you an artist, is, of course, so much rubbish. If acting were just a matter of experience, then any busy harlot could make Garbo's Camille pale.

29. I'm leaving the screen because I don't think I am very good in the pictures and I have this beautiful dream that I'm elegant on the stage.

30. In the great mass of our people there are plenty individuals of intelligence from among whom leadership can be recruited.

31. Talent is only the starting point.

32. Talent is that which is in a man's power; genius is that in whose power a man is.

33. Beware of Methodologies. They are a great way to bring everyone up to a dismal, but passable, level of performance, but at the same time, they are aggravating to more talented people who chafe at the restrictions that are placed on them.

34. 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.

35. I would rather hire a man with enthusiasm, than a man who knows everything.

36. By labor and intent study (which I take to be my portion in this life), joined with the strong propensity of nature, I might perhaps leave something so written to after-times, as they should not willingly let it die.

37. Other men used their effete faiths and mean faculties with a high moral purpose. The Venetian gave the most earnest faith, and the lordliest faculty, to gild the shadows of an antechamber, or heighten the splendours of a holiday.

38. Could we teach taste or genius by rules, they would be no longer taste and genius.

39. Notable talents are not necessarily connected with discretion.

40. Everyone is vulnerable who is at once gifted and gregarious.

41. Mark: Lucky last. We haven't given you an easy time, have we? We haven't actually affirmed you... I know Marcia has. Marcia's really been your supporter, hasn't she. I know Dicko and I have really given you a kinda tough time. But you're still here. You're definitely growing on me. I'm still a bit concerned about the sort of cabaret aspects of the way you present yourself, but gee, the way you're singing is really, really, really, really fine.

42. Dicko said that he thinks Mark has a problem with her and thinks she doesn't have a recordable voice. Mark agreed but said if David Hasselhoff can sell records so can Hayley.

43. People have said I'm a man of vision. What they don't know is that I'm surrounded by people who see farther than I do.

44. For Wits are treated just like Common Whores; First they're enjoy'd, and then kickt out of Doors.

45. I can't play [guitar] like Segovia. The flip side of that is that Segovia could probably never have played like me. (1994)

46. He had an amazing ear for melody.

47. He had a touch most guitarists would kill for.

48. [He] was very talented, but he was passive-aggressive, kind of a whiny white guy, basically.

49. The most prolific and versatile of any modern jazz musician

50. 'She's one of the greatest. She was born to sing.' Ron Fair, executive producer

51. 'But more than anything, she's an incredible vocalist.' Steve Kurtz

52. 'Clay, you sing like Andre Agassi plays tennis, perfection, perfection. And I would kill to write and produce your first CD.'' - Neil Sedaka, American Idol 2 guest judge -

53. 'I'm over it now, and I can see how hard he tries to do what he does. I mean I think he makes good use of what talent he has.' -on Hammett

54. He was an instinctive actor... He was quite bright... he was very intelligent... He was not a punk. He was very elegant, sedate, and refined, and sophisticated.

55. I remember when I was doing a film with Fred Astaire, it was nothing for him to work three or four days on two bars of music. One evening in the dark grey hours of dusk, I was walking across the deserted MGM lot when a small, weary figure with a towel around his neck suddenly appeared out of the giant cube sound stages. It was Fred. He came over to me, threw a heavy arm around my shoulder and said: 'Oh Alan, why doesn't someone tell me I cannot dance?' The tormented illogic of his question made any answer insipid, and all I could do was walk with him in silence

56. He was not just the best ballroom dancer, or tap dancer, he was simply the greatest, most imaginative, dancer of our time

57. As a dancer he stands alone, and no singer knows his way around a song like Fred Astaire

58. Astaire can't do anything bad

59. Can't act, slightly bald, also dances

60. The main point of Flying Down to Rio is the screen promise of Fred Astaire.... He's assuredly a bet after this one, for he's distinctly likeable on the screen, the mike is kind to his voice and as a dancer he remains in a class by himself. The latter observation will be no news to the professsion, which has long admitted that Astaire starts dancing where the others stop hoofing

61. As one of the handful of girls who worked with both of those dance geniuses, I think I can give an honest comparison. In my opinion, Kelly is the more inventive choreographer of the two. Astaire, with Hermes Pan's help, creates fabulous numbers - for himself and his partner. But Kelly can create an entire number for somebody else... I think, however, that Astaire's coordination is better than Kelly's... his sense of rhythm is uncanny. Kelly, on the other hand, is the stronger of the two. When he lifts you, he lifts you!... To sum it up, I'd say they were the two greatest dancing personalities who were ever on screen. But it's like comparing apples and oranges. They're both delicious.

62. Liza, in terms of sheer talent, just oozes with it. She has sheer energy and stamina, which she gets across the stage, and the way she delivers herself to the public is a good influence. There is a lot to learn from her

63. 'Niggle's Picture!' said Parish in astonishment. 'Did you think of all this, Niggle? I never knew you were so clever. Why didn't you tell me?' 'He tried to tell you long ago,' said the man; 'but you would not look. He had only got canvas and paint in those days, and you wanted to mend your roof with them. This is what you and your wife used to call Niggle's Nonsense, or That Daubing.' 'But it did not look like this then, not real,' said Parish. 'No, it was only a glimpse then,' said the man; 'but you might have caught the glimpse, if you had ever thought it worth while to try.' 'I did not give you much chance,' said Niggle. 'I never tried to explain. I used to call you Old Earth-grubber. But what does it matter? We have lived and worked together now. Things might have been different, but they could not have been better. All the same, I am afraid I shall have to be going on. We shall meet again, I expect: there must be many more things we can do together. Good-bye!'

64. 'Jude Law is one of the finest actors of our time ...' - Sean Penn

65. Being British in this part of the century meant living in the country that had Peter Cook in it. There are wits and there are clowns in comedy, I suppose. Peter was a wit, it goes without saying, but he was funny in an almost supernatural way that has never been matched by anyone I've met or even heard about. It wasn't to do with facial expression or epigrammatic wit, or cattiness or rant or anger or technique: he had funniness in the same way that beautiful people have beauty or dancers have line and grace. He had an ability to make people gasp and gasp and gasp for breath like landed fish. ~ Stephen Fry

66. I remember being moved to tears when Peter said: 'I know I was funny but I know I won't improve, I won't get any better'. I was lucky to be around when he was at his peak. Verbally he was the most witty man that I have ever come across and strangely inventive. ~ Dudley Moore

67. Besides rapping the only thing I did good was scrapping

68. 'He shows up, he looks shitty, he's got junk equipment, he looks like he's just got up and I want to punch him, and then Aaron starts playing and on the first note it's like, 'You're the guy.' He wasn't trying to be me, and play like I play. He played and chaos came out. It immediately made the band turn into something else'- Trent Reznor

69. ... for Davies and Service, it was the end of two brilliant careers. For the country they served, it would have even darker implications because they were the best of an era, and the Foreign Service does not produce that many men of rare excellence.

70. Talent on loan from God.

71. Hidden talent counts for nothing.

72. I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.

73. There have been many accolades uttered about Elvis' talent and performances through the years, all of which I agree with wholeheartedly. I shall miss him dearly as a friend. He was a warm, considerate and generous man.

74. 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. Later he became conscious of his damaged wings and of their construction and he learned to think and could not fly any more because the love of flight was gone and he could only remember when it had been effortless.

75. 'The greater a man's talents, the greater his power to lead astray.'

76. He was a genius.

77. I realised what everyone else had been talking about: the brilliance of Peter's humour. It was brilliant and it was luminous. And it was... easy. Not easy for you and me to come to... but easy for him. It just rolled out of him... almost as if he didn't need to think about it. ~ Terry Jones

78. No dancer can watch Fred Astaire and not know that we all should have been in another business

79. Speer is more of an artist by nature. Admittedly he has great organizational talent but politically he is too inexperienced to be totally reliable in this critical time.

80. He stands at the front rank of a generation never surpassed in history, but whose countrymen seem to have never duly recognized his splendid gifts.

81. The most gifted natures are perhaps also the most trembling.

82. Talent hits a target no-one else can hit; genius hits targets no-one else can see.

83. Genius, when young, is divine.

84. Most people die with their music still locked up inside them.

85. My advice is precisely the advice my mother gave me. If you believe you have talent, the next thing you must have is determination. If you keep working, keep striving, and try always to move forward a little bit with every job you do, you'll eventually make it. And I believe that!

86. Let the true genius in the padded walls remain.

87. If nature has been frugal in her gifts and endowments, there is the more need of art to supply her defects. If she has been generous and liberal, know that she still expects industry and application on our part, and revenges herself in proportion to our negligent ingratitude. The richest genius, like the most fertile soil, when uncultivated, shoots up into the rankest weeds; and instead of vines and olives for the pleasure and use of man, produces, to its slothful owner, the most abundant crop of poisons.

88. For whatever reason, God has blessed me with the ability, put me in a position to make these leaps and bounds. I'm fulfilling my part of the bargain, which is to give back and be a positive influence on others.

89. Destiny gave me only two things: a few accounting books and the gift of dreaming.

90. Ce n'est pas assez d'avoir de grandes qualites, il en faut avoir l'economie.

91. 'If I had been born ugly, you would never have heard of Pele.'

92. 'Boss, I think I've found you a genius.' (The telegram sent to Manchester United manager Sir Matt Busby by talent scout Bob Bishop, who discovered a 15-year-old Best playing for Cregagh Boys' Club.)

93. 'What he had was unique, you can't coach it.', 'I think if you talk about Europe, you talk about five or six and if you talk about his qualities he'd always be in there. 'It was a short career but if you go back to the basic qualities he was exceptional.' [1] (Johan Cruyff)

94. The Rhapsody is not a composition at all. It's a string of separate paragraphs stuck together - with a thin paste of flour and water: I don't think there has been such an inspired melodist on this earth since Tchaikovsky:but if you want to speak of a composer, that's another matter.

95. Porgy is:an interesting example of what can be done by talent in spite of a bad setup. With a libretto that should never have been accepted on a subject that should never have been chosen, a man who should never have attempted it has written a work that has a considerable power.

96. Groucho Marx is the only actor I ever allowed to ad-lib in a show I wrote. That was because I couldn't stop him.

97. He does his stuff really well, he's got a real good screen presence and a lot of talent. He's more mature than I was at that age. He seems more worldly, seems to know his way around.

98. I just have to say that Heath is the greatest. He is an amazing person, incredible, and so Australians must be doing something right. He is just so relaxed and I feel like Australia must be like that.

99. Once every 50 years a guy like that comes along. For his age, Heath has an incredible manliness about him. I think he has a strong sense of himself, but it's especially amazing in someone so young, because usually male stars don't develop that kind of thing until their thirties.

100. I think Heath has a natural screen presence, he has a focus that distinguishes him from a lot of young actors. There's a depth and intelligence that is operating that's not only there, but also focused into what he is doing, being clear in what the role is, about what he's trying to achieve with it, this brings a balance with the other cast who are considerably more experienced than him in most cases, that's very important for the story to work. Without that, we would lose center, he brings that focus.