“Faith is an aptitude of the spirit. It is, in fact, a talent: you must be born with it.”
On the Road (1886)
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Anton Chekhov 222
Russian dramatist, author and physician 1860–1904Related quotes

“I believe that every person is born with talent.”

“The Spirit brings faith, the faith.”
Soren Kierkegaard, For Self-Examination, Hong p. 81
1850s, For Self-Examination (1851), It Is the Spirit Who Gives Life

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 169

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.