Wallace Stegner Quotes

Talent cannot be learned, it can only be developed.

Instead of thinking about talent as something that you acquire, talent should be thought of as something that you develop.

You can improve your talent, but your talent is a given, a mysterious constant. You must make it the best of its kind.

Each man has an aptitude born with him. Do your work.

Though I probably shouldn't admit this, the activities and pursuits in which I've achieved any measure of success are, without exception, activities and pursuits that came easily to me from the beginning.

I believe that everyone has some huge talent in them; the really lucky ones discover what it is.

Some people are just naturally good. I always found ways to become good.

You can't be different if you look at it. Being gifted is different. I had that in my piano playing. I'm very thankful for that. I'm very aware of that. The style and what I fed is just me. I never worked at it. It just happened.

You have to have a talent for having talent.

Some people say talent is energy and that's a very interesting way of thinking about it. In other words, people with talent have a lot of energy.

When we're able to put most of our energy into developing our natural talents, extraordinary room for growth exists

(Natural Talent + Opportunity) Hard Work = Success

Dare to take chances, lest you leave your talent buried in the ground.

The talent, including the talent for history - and I do think there are people who just have a talent for it, the way you have a talent for public speaking or music or whatever - it shouldn't be allowed to lie dormant. It should be brought alive.

Possessing talent is nothing more than the continuous pursuit of a life-long interest.

When one has talent, everything contributes to its development.

One of the greatest talents of all is the talent to recognize and to develop talent in others.

When you find the talent, it's always raw, and when you put the talent in the formula, you get the Knocks.

In an adequate social order, the untalented should be able to acquire a sense of usefulness and of growth without interfering with the development of talent around them

It is now your duty to hone that talent, because a person who wastes his God-given talents is a donkey.

You have no control over how much talent you possess. You control only what you do with it.

The purpose of America is to unleash the full talent and genius of every individual.

Create your own path, hone your talent, be ready to show your talent, and don't doubt yourself.

I believe in talent. I know you're not supposed to believe in that anymore because you're supposed to believe if you just work hard you can do anything. That's how you succeed, maybe. But talent is something you're born with. You cannot acquire it by working hard, and you cannot lose it by lying around either.

Find what you love, because greatness is based on great gifts. If you love something, you can count on the fact that you are genetically gifted at it.