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The Best Quotations

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best quotations about

Ability


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Ability

60 quotesVisits: 3,115

Quotations

NapoleonAbility is nothing without opportunity.

—  Napoleon, 1769-1821, French Emperor

12 likes
Thomas SowellAge gives you an excuse for not being very good at things that you were not very good at when you were young.

—  Thomas Sowell, 1930 -, American political thinker

10 likes
Oscar WildeI think that God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.

—  Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900, Irish writer

9 likes
Henry FordWhether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re probably right.

—  Henry Ford, 1863-1947, American industrialist, founder of FORD

8 likes
Sun TzuHe who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious.

—  Sun Tzu, c. 5th cent. BC, Chinese general & military strategist

8 likes
ConfuciusThe man who says he can, and the man who says he can not are both correct.

—  Confucius, 551-479 BC, Chinese teacher & philosopher

7 likes
John WoodenAbility can take you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.

—  John Wooden, 1910-2010, American basketball coach

6 likes
H.L. MenckenThe older I get the more I admire and crave competence, just simple competence, in any field from adultery to zoology.

—  H.L. Mencken, 1880-1956, American columnist & cultural critic

6 likes
Pablo PicassoGive me a museum and I'll fill it.

—  Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973, Spanish painter

5 likes
Jules VerneAnything you can imagine you can make real.

—  Jules Verne, 1826-1905, French writer

5 likes
John WoodenDo not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.

—  John Wooden, 1910-2010, American basketball coach

4 likes
Edward GibbonHe had a heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute.

—  Edward Gibbon, 1737-1794, English historian

4 likes
HoraceHe is not poor who has enough of things to use. If it is well with your belly, chest and feet, the wealth of kings can give you nothing more.

—  Horace, 65-8 BC, Roman poet

4 likes
Marie von Ebner-EschenbachThere is only one proof of ability: action.

—  Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, 1830-1916, German author of maxims

4 likes
Henry FordOne of the greatest discoveries a person makes, one of their great surprises, is to find they can do what they were afraid they couldn't do.

—  Henry Ford, 1863-1947, American industrialist, founder of FORD

4 likes
Pablo PicassoHe can who thinks he can, and he can't who thinks he can't. This is an inexorable, indisputable law.

—  Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973, Spanish painter

4 likes
Emile M. CioranWe are afraid of the enormity of the possible.

—  Emile M. Cioran, 1911-1995, French-Romanian philosopher

3 likes
Fyodor DostoyevskyMan has it all in his hands, and it all slips through his fingers from sheer cowardice.

—  Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1821-1881, Russian writer

3 likes
Bill GatesMost people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.

—  Bill Gates, 1955-, American businessman

3 likes
Elbert HubbardResponsibilities gravitate to the person who can shoulder them.

—  Elbert Hubbard, 1856-1915, American writer

3 likes
George WashingtonWe must consult our means rather than our wishes.

—  George Washington, 1732-1799, the first American President

3 likes
Lou HoltzAbility is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.

—  Lou Holtz, 1937-, American football coach

3 likes
Henry FordThere is no man living who isn’t capable of doing more than he thinks he can do.

—  Henry Ford, 1863-1947, American industrialist, founder of FORD

3 likes
Stephen KingJust remember that Dumbo didn't need the feather; the magic was in him.

—  Stephen King, 1947-, American author of horror & fantasy fiction

3 likes
Robert HeinleinA human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

—  Robert Heinlein, 1907-1988, American sci-fi writer

3 likes
Mignon McLaughlinAs we are human, we can't do what we can't do; as we're neurotic, we can't do what we can.

—  Mignon McLaughlin, 1913-1983, American magazine editor

3 likes
Walt DisneyIf you can dream it, you can achieve it.

—  Walt Disney, 1901-1966, American businessman & cartoonist

3 likes
Thomas HobbesIt is one thing to desire, another to be in capacity fit for what we desire.

—  Thomas Hobbes, 1588-1679, English philosopher

2 likes
Francis BaconNatural abilities are like natural plants; they need pruning by study.

—  Francis Bacon, 1561-1626, English philosopher

2 likes
Thomas EdisonIf we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.

—  Thomas Edison, 1847-1934, American inventor

2 likes
La RochefoucauldThere are some persons who only disgust with their abilities, there are persons who please even with their faults.

—  La Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680, French writer

2 likes
Jim RohnHumans have the remarkable ability to get exactly what they must have. But there is a difference between a “must” and a “want.”

—  Jim Rohn, 1930-2009, American self-help speker

2 likes
Edward GibbonThe winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.

—  Edward Gibbon, 1737-1794, English historian

2 likes
Doug LarsonSome of the world’s greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.

—  Doug Larson, 1926-2017, American columnist

2 likes
Bob RossAll you need to paint is a few tools, a little instruction, and a vision in your mind.

—  Bob Ross, 1942-1995, American painter & TV personality

Kin HubbardIt's pretty hard to be efficient without being obnoxious.

—  Kin Hubbard, 1868-1930, American cartoonist

Bob RossHow do you make a round circle with a square knife? That’s your challenge for the day.

—  Bob Ross, 1942-1995, American painter & TV personality

Gertrude SteinIf you can do it then why do it?

—  Gertrude Stein, 1874-1946, American writer

Nikos KazantzakisIf the man does not reach the edge of the cliff, he cannot grow wings to fly.

—  Nikos Kazantzakis, 1883-1957, Greek writer

Jean de La BruyèreLofty posts make great men greater still, and small men much smaller.

—  Jean de La Bruyère, 1645-1696, French writer

Marcel AchardNothing is impossible for a man who does not have to do it himself.

—  Marcel Achard, 1899-1974, French playwright

W.H. AudenYou owe it to all of us to get on with what you’re good at.

—  W.H. Auden, 1907-1973, British poet

Robert Louis StevensonLife is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well.

—  Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850-1894, Scottish writer

Robert Louis StevensonTo be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.

—  Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850-1894, Scottish writer

Alexandre DumasIt is almost as difficult to keep a first class person in a fourth class job, as it is to keep a fourth class person in a first class job.

—  Alexandre Dumas, 1802-1870, French writer

Henry MillerEvery day that we fail to live out the maximum of our potentialities we kill the Shakespeare, Dante, Homer, Christ which is in us.

—  Henry Miller, 1891-1980, American writer

Ashleigh BrilliantWomen can do anything men can do, but often have more sense than even to be interested.

—  Ashleigh Brilliant, 1933-, British cartoonist & epigrammatist

Ayn RandYou must be the kind of man who can get things done. But to get things done, you must love the doing, not the secondary consequences.

—  Ayn Rand, 1905-1982, American writer & philosopher

Arthur Conan DoyleI cannot agree with those who rank modesty among the virtues. To the logician all things should be seen exactly as they are, and to underestimate one’s self is as much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one’s own powers.

—  Arthur Conan Doyle, 1859-1930, British writer

Bob RossThe secret to doing anything is believing that you can do it. Anything that you believe you can do strong enough, you can do. Anything. As long as you believe.

—  Bob Ross, 1942-1995, American painter & TV personality

Latin Quotes

VirgilThey can because they think they can.

Possunt, quia posse videntur.

—  Virgil, 70-19 BC, Roman poet

97 likes
Latin phraseReady-Willing-Potent

Libens-Volens-Potens

—  Latin phrase

51 likes
VirgilWe can’t all of us do everything.

Non omnia possumus omnes.

—  Virgil, 70-19 BC, Roman poet

19 likes

Funny Quotes

Lyndon JohnsonIf one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read “President Can't Swim”.

—  Lyndon Johnson, 1908-1973, American President [1963-1969]

4 likes

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek phraseSailing to Corinth is not for everyone.

Ου παντός πλειν ες Κόρινθον.

—  Ancient Greek phrase

5 likes
PlutarchEven a good captain could be shipwrecked. And a great man can fail.

Και κυβερνήτης αγαθός ενίοτε ναυαγεί· και ανήρ σπουδαίος ατυχεί.

—  Plutarch, 47-120 AD, Ancient Greek historian

4 likes
AeschylusNo boaster he, but with a hand which sees the thing to do.

Ανήρ άκομπος, χειρ δ’ ορά το δράσιμον.

—  Aeschylus, 525-456 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian

4 likes
DemocritusDo not try what is beyond your capability.

Μη πλέω προσάπτεσθαι των δυνατών.

—  Democritus, 470-370 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

4 likes

Special Quotes

Be all that you can be.

—  Motto of the U.S. Army

2 likes

Movie Quotes

The Karate Kid (1984)Man who catch fly with chopstick accomplish anything.

—  from the film The Karate Kid (1984)

3 likes



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