Consequently the student who is devoid of talent will derive no more profit from this work than barren soil from a treatise on agriculture.
QuintilianRead
Without natural gifts technical rules are useless.
Interpretation
Natural talent is essential for effectively applying technical knowledge.
Quintilian's quote emphasizes the importance of innate abilities in conjunction with learned skills. While technical rules and knowledge can provide a framework, without the natural gifts or talents to utilize them, such rules become ineffective. This highlights the balance between education and inherent aptitude in achieving mastery in any field.
In practice
During a speech on education, one could use this quote to underline the necessity of nurturing talent alongside teaching technical skills.
Consequently the student who is devoid of talent will derive no more profit from this work than barren soil from a treatise on agriculture.
As regards parents, I should like to see them as highly educated as possible, and I do not restrict this remark to fathers alone.
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Come then, and let us pass a leisure hour in storytelling, and our story shall be the education of our heroes.
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The library, with its Daedalian labyrinth, mysterious hush, and faintly ominous aroma of knowledge, has been replaced by the computer's cheap glow, pesky chirp, and data spillage.
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