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Maya Angelou 247
American author and poet 1928–2014Related quotes
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.
“I restore myself when I'm alone. A career is born in public — talent in privacy.”
As quoted in Ms. magazine (August 1972) p. 40
Variant: I restore myself when I'm alone. A career is born in public — talent in privacy.
“Every man at the bottom of his heart believes that he is a born detective.”
Source: The Power-House (1916), Ch. 2 "I First Hear Of Mr Andrew Lumley"
“The capacity for personal freedom is a rare talent. Talent exists to be used.”
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)
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 11 September 2006
(about Ramanujan) p. lvii of [Hardy, G. H., G. H. Hardy, Obituary Notices: Srinivasa Ramanujan, Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society, 19, xl-lviii, 1921, http://www.numbertheory.org/obituaries/LMS/ramanujan/index.html, 2008-05-26]
“Greatness is often born of the passionate dance between a rare talent and a noble purpose.”
The Pathfinder (1998)