When you clench your fist, no one can put anything in your hand.
Alex HaleyRead
By and large, talent is in such short supply that mediocrity can be taken for brilliance rather more than genius can go undiscovered.
Interpretation
Talent is rare, so average abilities can sometimes appear exceptional, while true genius often remains unnoticed.
In this quote, Charles Saatchi suggests that genuine talent and genius are often overshadowed by the prevalence of mediocrity. He implies that because talent is scarce, what might seem like remarkable abilities can actually be quite ordinary, while true brilliance might be overlooked and not recognized, leading to a misunderstanding of what talent really is.
In practice
This quote could be used in a motivational speech to emphasize the value of recognizing true talent.
When you clench your fist, no one can put anything in your hand.
Before we can be cured we must want to be cured. Those who really wish for help will get it; but for many modern people even the wish is difficult.
We are the Bibles the world is reading; We are the creeds the world is needing; We are the sermons the world is heeding.
There is a strong tendency to get used to and accept very bad things that would be shocking if seen with fresh eyes.
Training the intellect does not result in intelligence. Intelligence comes into being when one acts in perfect harmony, both intellectually and emotionally.
Manners must adorn knowledge and smooth its way in the world, without them it is like a great rough diamond, very well in a closet by way of curiosity, and also for its intrinsic value; but most prized when polished.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.