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

Being ‚contented‘ ought to mean in English, as it does in French, being pleased. Being content with an attic ought not to mean being unable to move from it and resigned to living in it; it ought to mean appreciating all there is in such a position.

I’ve never wanted to use my age as a gimmick, as something that would get me ahead of other people. I’ve wanted the music to do that.

Every man, and for stronger reasons, every artist, wants to be recognized. So do I.

We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others.

It’s so clear that you have to cherish everyone. I think that’s what I get from these older black women, that every soul is to be cherished, that every flower Is to bloom.

A just and reasonable modesty does not only recommend eloquence, but sets off every great talent which a man can be possessed of.

It definitely has learning a lesson about the way you’re living your life. I wouldn’t compare our movie to that, but it has a structure where it’s about a man who doesn’t appreciate all that he has and finds out at the end that life has been great and he has to enjoy that.

Before ever meeting Priyanka Chopra, I had heard her name coming out of Bollywood and was impressed: she was beautiful, talented, had made nearly 50 movies, earned multiple awards – a massive star.

There’s a lot of great movies that have won the Academy Award, and a lot of great movies that haven’t. You just do the best you can.

Friendship, like credit, is highest when it is not used.

The cross of the Legion of Honor has been conferred on me. However, few escape that distinction.

There’s been people who’ve rapped and produced – like Kanye – but I don’t feel like on the rapping side there’s ever been a producer who can rap as good as I think I can rap.

Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one’s living at it.

The last proceeding of reason is to recognize that there is an infinity of things which are beyond it. There is nothing so conformable to reason as this disavowal of reason.

As a sportsperson, the best thing is people recognising you and loving you for what you do. For me, glamour is 100 people in the hotel feeling happy to see you.

There are slavish souls who carry their appreciation for favors done them so far that they strangle themselves with the rope of gratitude.

Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its value only to its scarcity.

Among the many values in life, I appreciate freedom most.

I’m born with a pencil in my hand. I did lots of sketching.

Go to foreign countries and you will get to know the good things one possesses at home.

It is not your paintings I like, it is your painting.

I’m grateful for always this moment, the now, no matter what form it takes.

I knew no one who’d ever been in the public eye.

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

To get a name can happen but to few; it is one of the few things that cannot be brought. It is the free gift of mankind, which must be deserved before it will be granted, and is at last unwillingly bestowed.

When the well is dry, they know the worth of water.

I want to thank you for taking time out of your day to come and witness my hanging.

I got a lot of support from my parents. That’s the one thing I always appreciated. They didn’t tell me I was being stupid; they told me I was being funny.

I admire people who dare to take the language, English, and understand it and understand the melody.

If you’ve got a talent, protect it.

Hip-hop saved my life, man. It’s the only thing I’ve ever been even decent at. I don’t know how to do anything else.

I like not only to be loved, but also to be told I am loved.

There’s no better place in the world for technology start-ups than Silicon Valley; there’s such an incredible well of talent and capital and resources. The whole system is set up to foster the creation of new companies.

I can’t deny that label-support gave me a leg up – though not every successful artist needs it.

I was always very curious as a young man about why older writers who I met seemed so indifferent to what was going on, whereas I, in my 20s, was reading everything. Everything seemed important. But they were only interested in the writers they admired when they were young, and I didn’t understand it then, but now, now I understand it.

You’ve got to invest in the world, you’ve got to read, you’ve got to go to art galleries, you’ve got to find out the names of plants. You’ve got to start to love the world and know about the whole genius of the human race. We’re amazing people.

Undeserved praise causes more pangs of conscience later than undeserved blame, but probably only for this reason, that our power of judgment are more completely exposed by being over praised than by being unjustly underestimated.

Genius, when young, is divine.

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.

When I won the first Grammy, there was no other feeling like that feeling. It just made me feel like I came so far, like that was just a dream a few years before that, and then it was happening right then.

In pop music, the public usually see the results – the hit records, the Grammy Awards performances, the concert tours – but not all the work that goes into getting into the spotlight. And not everyone realizes that, even if you have a lot of talent, chances are you won’t make it.

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.

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.

Every blessing ignored becomes a curse.

For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.

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 want to support other women because of the opportunities I’ve had – and I’ve had a lot of opportunities. What I try as a female director is to do the best job I can and, in the meantime, bring attention to as many other female directors and writers as I can.

I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.

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

My belief is that we were put into this world of wonders and beauty with a special ability to appreciate them, in some cases to have the fun of taking a hand in developing them, and also in being able to help other people instead of overreaching them and, through it all, to enjoy life – that is, to be happy.

Winning ‚Motor Trend‘ Car of the year is probably the closest thing to winning the Oscar or Emmy of the car industry.

When I was in high school, there were these British blues-rock-type bands with really good guitar players that would jam on one song for half an hour. And as much as I was amazed by some of those guitar players, seeing them prompted me to make a note that that’s not something I could do.

Happiness is a how; not a what. A talent, not an object.

Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued.

That it will never come again is what makes life sweet.

The art of acceptance is the art of making someone who has just done you a small favor wish that he might have done you a greater one.

When one’s expectations are reduced to zero, one really appreciates everything one does have.

There is no substitute for talent. Industry and all its virtues are of no avail.

I cannot conceive of Israel withdrawing if Arab states do not recognize Israel, within secure borders.

There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.