Britney Spears was an incredible dancer. That kid was amazing.

I think being able to age gracefully is a very important talent. It is too late for me.

Actors I admire? Ed Harris, or course, I think he’s terrific; because I know he always had to fight being what he looked like a lot, but I think he’s a terrific actor.

There is something that is much more scarce, something finer far, something rarer than ability. It is the ability to recognize ability.

Aside from singing, I’m also a dancer. I’ve been dancing since I was 8.

I wouldn’t say that I am one of the greatest dancers, but I am really quite good at what I do.

Genius, when young, is divine.

The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.

With people of limited ability modesty is merely honesty. But with those who possess great talent it is hypocrisy.

The Artist is he who detects and applies the law from observation of the works of Genius, whether of man or Nature. The Artisan is he who merely applies the rules which others have detected.

A true artist is expected to be all that is noble-minded, and this is not altogether a mistake; on the other hand, however, in what a mean way are critics allowed to pounce upon us.

There are some singers that know exactly when to go, and others hang on much too long and that is the same, that is the same with judges.

Sincerity makes the very least person to be of more value than the most talented hypocrite.

I wish I could make music about politics. I feel like it’s such an art and a talent that I admire tremendously, but when I step into the studio, I step out of the real world, and it’s therapeutic.

Natural ability without education has more often raised a man to glory and virtue than education without natural ability.

I was a strange, loud little kid who could sit at the piano and kill a Beethoven piece.

I can dance to just about anything.

Those who create are rare; those who cannot are numerous. Therefore, the latter are stronger.

I’ve never met a genius. A genius to me is someone who does well at something he hates. Anybody can do well at something he loves – it’s just a question of finding the subject.

My mother is a singer, my sisters all sing, my uncles are incredible singers and guitar players, so it’s just kind of been like my habitat.

In order to acquire a growing and lasting respect in society, it is a good thing, if you possess great talent, to give, early in your youth, a very hard kick to the right shin of the society that you love. After that, be a snob.

Stupidity is a talent for misconception.

The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.

People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.

I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House – with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.

I did work in a strip club, but I didn’t strip. I danced, and I became very popular.

I’ve written some great things. That’s a gift, but there’s consequences. Yeah, you get this great work, but you suffer. You really, really suffer.

I’ve always been a singer. I never really decided I was gonna be a singer. It just kind of – I just sung a lot.

Above everything else I’ve done, I’ve always said I’ve had more guts than I’ve got talent.

I love to play. And fortunately, I don’t know a lot of musicians that suck. I know a bunch of really good ones, and they’re always up for playing.

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.

The most talented do not always end up as celebrities, and those with less talent often do. Upsets are written into our history and occur around us every day.

I think most of the people involved in any art always secretly wonder whether they are really there because they’re good or there because they’re lucky.

Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.

A person who is gifted sees the essential point and leaves the rest as surplus.

I always had a knack for improvisation. I can write down the notes I play, but never really had a proper academic musical background. I suppose I’m blessed and cursed by the fact I have that freedom.

I was a dancer for many years. I was a premier dancer with ‚Porgy and Bess,‘ the opera. And I taught dance some, in different places.

Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth.

Corruption is a cancer: a cancer that eats away at a citizen’s faith in democracy, diminishes the instinct for innovation and creativity; already-tight national budgets, crowding out important national investments. It wastes the talent of entire generations. It scares away investments and jobs.

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.

Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the fates.

I’m trying to do what Eddie Murphy did for his generation. You have to show people, ‚I’m different. I’m not just a comedian.‘ I’m trying to become a rock star.

Talent and effort, combined with our various backgrounds and life experiences, has always been the lifeblood of our singular American genius.

My biggest criticism is how can people be so easily satisfied? Even people with talent.

You know, God gave me a gift to do other things besides play the game of basketball.

No one can resist the idea of a crippled genius.

We all sort of do want incentives for creative people to still exist at a certain level. You know, maybe rock stars shouldn’t make as much; who knows? But you want as much creativity to take place in the future as took place in the past.

A lot of people like to do certain things, but they’re not that good at it. Keep going through the things that you like to do, until you find something that you actually seem to be extremely good at. It can be anything.

From the beginning of my rap career, since I was seen and heard, I always had a store.

I didn’t think it was special to be able to sing.

If I had a talent, it was for looking askew at everything, possibly more than my contemporaries. But I had to really push myself to be a writer.

Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered – either by themselves or by others.

I know I’m talented, but I wasn’t put here to sing. I was put here to be a wife and a mom and look after my family. I love what I do, but it’s not where it begins and ends.

The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away.

We like to think about how smart we are. But I think talent as a writer is hard-wired in, it’s all there, at least the basic elements of it. You can’t change it any more than you can choose whether to be right handed or left handed.

I grew up in a rural area called Vega Baja and I’m the first of so many talented people in this area to make it out. I take great pride to represent where I come from and I am able to show my fans, and everyone who listens and watches me, that anything is possible.

I have always had a talent for irritating women since I was fourteen.

I have a definite talent for convincing people to try something new. I am a good salesman. When I’m on form, I can sell anything.

Mother Earth is very talented. She has produced Buddhas, bodhisattvas, great beings.

The quote-unquote ‚description‘ of a leading man was once your tall, handsome man with the build of whatever, almost a trophy to some degree. I think now it’s about making a leading man what you want a leading man to be. In this day, you can’t deny talent. You look at Jonah Hill, you look at Zach Galifianakis, you look at myself.

Natural abilities can almost compensate for the want of every kind of cultivation, but no cultivation of the mind can make up for the want of natural abilities.