Certainly parents play a crucial role in the lives of individuals who are intellectually gifted or creatively talented. But this r...ole is not one of active instruction, of teaching children skills,... rather, it is support and encouragement parents give children and the intellectual climate that they create in the home which seem to be the critical factors.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Telephone poles were matchsticks, put there to be snapped off at a whim. Dogs trotting across the road were suddenly big trucks. O...ld ladies turned into moving--vans. Everything was too bright, but very funny and made for my delight. And about half a mile from my long liquid breakfast I turned carefully down a side street and parked, and sat beaming happily through the tannic fog for about an hour, remembering how witty we all had been, how handsome and talented ... [ellipsis in original]LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Everybody is so talented nowadays that the only people I care to honour as deserving real distinction are those who remain in obsc...urity.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The problem of invisibility, the incredible deficit of self- esteem that full-time mothers describe, seems to come with the territ...ory. Day in and day out, the feedback from their spouse and kids suggests they are part of the woodwork, with no intelligence to illuminate a homework question or share any insights on politics. . . . When no one recognizes or applauds their amazing juggling act, they perforce derive their sense of self-worth from being ringmaster--someone not necessarily talented but indisputably in charge.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
We talk of genius as if it were a mere knack, and the poet could only express what other men conceived. But in comparison with his... task, the poet is the least talented of any; the writer of prose has more skill.... When the poet is most inspired, is stimulated by an aura which never even colors the afternoons of common men, then his talent is all gone, and he is no longer a poet. The gods do not grant him any skill more than another. They never put their gifts into his hands, but the encompass and sustain him with their breath.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
There are many persons ready to do what is right because in their hearts they know it is right. But they hesitate, waiting for the... other fellow to make the first move--and he, in turn, waits for you. The minute a person whose word means a great deal dares to take the open- hearted and courageous way, many others follow. Not everyone can be turned aside from meanness and hatred, but the great majority of Americans is heading in that direction. I have a great belief in the future of my people and my country.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
I suppose that Paderewski can play superbly, if not quite at his best, while his thoughts wander to the other end of the world, or... possibly busy themselves with a computation of the receipts as he gazes out across the auditorium. I know a great actor, a master technician, can let his thoughts play truant from the scene ...LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The future is built on brains, not prom court, as most people can tell you after attending their high school reunion. But you'd ne...ver know it by talking to kids or listening to the messages they get from the culture and even from their schools.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »