Itzhak Perlman Quotes

Middle age snuffs out more talent than even wars or sudden death does.

I knew guys way more talented than me who fell through the cracks.

Among those people not graduating, there might be a Steve Jobs or Barack Obama. We'll never know.

Every man is a potential genius until he does something.

I think children have talent and insight, but it gets beaten out of them.

Teenagers are some of the most passionate, dynamic and creative people I know. Yet, too often, this creative spark is left to flicker precariously and sometimes fade entirely.

Many incredible artists die before they were famous.

Here was a man with loads of talent, loads of ability, lots of love to give; but that had been stifled and aborted. I became very fond of that character.

I was the kind of kid that had some talents or ability, but it never came out in school.

There's talent on the streets, kids with ideas who have stories to tell and never get a chance.

Middle age snuffs out more talent than ever wars or sudden deaths do.

There are so many young women who throw their talent away.

It's the most extraordinary and saddest thing, the amount of talent out there not being seen.

For me, the saddest thing in the world is always lost potential. That is always the most heartbreaking thing, when there's something left to be mined from a situation or a person that goes unexplored; that's a tragedy to me.

Stuck as Adam Cartwright, I was only able to use about one-tenth of my ability.

How many Beethovens are there that just for lack of the training, the world doesn't get exposed to.

Many ... have tremendous God-given gifts, but they don't focus on the development of those gifts. Who are these individuals? You've never heard of them- and you never will .

So much luck! I'm not putting myself down, I'm not saying I don't have talent - I must have, to have got this far - but I honestly believe that some of the greatest actors in America are tending bar and waiting tables and driving taxis, and it will never happen for them.

I believe there are Steve Jobses all around us. Really, what is happening is that they're being edited out of importance.

Schubert had arguably the same melodic gift as Mozart, but even less support. He didn't have the early exposure, never got to travel anywhere, and yet generated and amassed a body of work that grew and developed and is very profound.

The story of the human race is the story of men and women selling themselves short.

A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort.

A few can touch the magic string, and noisy fame is proud to win them: Alas for those that never sing, but die with all their music in them!

My mother is a great artist, but she always treated her paintings like minor postcards. Had she pursued it, she would have been a great artist. Instead, she looked down on her art.

What might be taken for a precocious genius is the genius of childhood. When the child grows up, it disappears without a trace. It may happen that this boy will become a real painter some day, or even a great painter. But then he will have to begin everything again, from zero.