“Talent was not rare; the ability to survive having it was.”
Source: Quicksilver
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Neal Stephenson167
American science fiction writer 1959Related quotes
“It is a very rare thing for a man of talent to succeed by his talent.”
Joseph Roux (1834–1905) French poet
Part 4, LXXXVIII
Meditations of a Parish Priest (1866)
“The capacity for personal freedom is a rare talent. Talent exists to be used.”
Matthew Stover book Blade of Tyshalle
We do not ask sheep to be wolves; we, the wolves, do not ask ourselves to be sheep. Sheep can make such rules as happen to suit them--but it's foolishly naive to expect wolves to obey."
Blade of Tyshalle (2001)
Warren Buffett (1930) American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist
To Barack Obama, as quoted in The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (2006), Ch. 5
Context: I happen to have a talent for allocating capital. But my ability to use that talent is completely dependent on the society I was born into. If I’d been born into a tribe of hunters, this talent of mine would be pretty worthless. I can’t run very fast. I’m not particularly strong. I’d probably end up as some wild animal’s dinner.
But I was lucky enough to be born in a time and place where society values my talent, and gave me a good education to develop that talent, and set up the laws and the financial system to let me do what I love doing — and make a lot of money doing it. The least I can do is help pay for all that.
Warren Farrell book The Myth of Male Power
Part I.
The Myth of Male Power (1993), Part 1: The Myth of Male Power
“My talent was the uncompromising ability to feel spite.”
Natsuo Kirino book Grotesque
Source: Grotesque
“Everybody has talent, but ability takes hard work.”
Michael Jordan (1963) American retired professional basketball player and businessman
Muhammad Yunus (1940) Bangladeshi banker, economist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient
Profile at North American Bangladesh Info Center http://www.bongoz.com/people/yunus.html