One thing, however, I must premise, that without the assistance
of natural capacity, rules and precepts are of no read more

One thing, however, I must premise, that without the assistance
of natural capacity, rules and precepts are of no efficacy.
[Lat., Illud tamen in primis testandum est, nihil praecepta atque
artes valere nisi adjuvante natura.]

We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.

We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.

Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a good carpenter to build one.

Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a good carpenter to build one.

There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there read more

There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other.

Natural abilities can almost compensate for the want of every kind of cultivation, but no cultivation of the mind can read more

Natural abilities can almost compensate for the want of every kind of cultivation, but no cultivation of the mind can make up for the want of natural abilities.

I add this also, that natural ability without education has
oftener raised man to glory and virtue, than education read more

I add this also, that natural ability without education has
oftener raised man to glory and virtue, than education without
natural ability.
[Lat., Etiam illud adjungo, saepius ad laudem atque virtutem
naturam sine doctrina, quam sine natura valisse doctrinam.]

People are always ready to admit a man's ability after he gets there.

People are always ready to admit a man's ability after he gets there.

I think that God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.

I think that God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.

If there be anything that can be called genius, it consists chiefly in ability to give that attention to a read more

If there be anything that can be called genius, it consists chiefly in ability to give that attention to a subject which keeps it steadily in the mind, till we have surveyed it accurately on all sides.