The Theophilanthropist: Containing Critical, Moral, Theological and Literary Essays, in Monthly Numbers https://books.google.com/books?id=XasOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA387&lpg=PA387, p. 387
1800s
“It is the duty of every man, as far as his ability extends, to detect and expose delusion and error. But nature has not given to everyone a talent for that purpose; and among those to whom such a talent is given, there is often a want of disposition or of courage to do it.”
1790s, The Age of Reason, Part III (1807)
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Thomas Paine 262
English and American political activist 1737–1809Related quotes
“Talent is God-given; be humble. Fame is man-given; be thankful. Conceit is self-given; be careful.”
They Call Me Coach (1972)
Variant: Talent is God-given; be humble. Fame is man-given; be thankful. Conceit is self-given; be careful.
Letter to Benjamin Banneker (30 August 1791) http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field(DOCID+@lit(tj060149))
1790s
Context: No body wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given to our black brethren, talents equal to those of the other colors of men, and that the appearance of a want of them is owing merely to the degraded condition of their existence, both in Africa & America.
1963, Address at the Free University of Berlin
“Everyone has talent. What's rare is the courage to follow it to the dark places where it leads.”
Volume 1, p. 191
The Prophets (1962)