70 Talent Quotes That Will Inspire You to Shine

These talent quotes will inspire you to show up for yourself and put in the work needed to reach your full potential.

What exactly is a talent?

Talent is described as a natural ability or aptitude and a capacity for achievement or success.

Talent is demonstrated in a variety of ways; writing, musical abilities, and artistry.

Talent is helpful, but it is not the only indicator of how good you can be at something, or how much success you can have.

My daughter has played the flute for years, and she was always a little envious of her friend who is a musical genius.

My daughter would be so upset that her friend could touch any musical instrument and wow anyone who was listening.

However, I reminded her that there were many people, including myself, who can’t play any instrument at all.

So, does hard work beat talent?

These talent quotes will inspire you to find your talent, and put in the work.

Check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily inspiration. 

Check out our inspirational quotes category page for more inspirational life quotes.

Talent quotes about hard work

1. “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” ― Stephen King

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2. “Talent is cheap; dedication is expensive. It will cost you your life.” ― Irving Stone

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3. “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” ― Kevin Durant

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4. “Talent is the multiplier. The more energy and attention you invest in it, the greater the yield. The time you spend with your best is, quite simply, your most productive time.” ― Marcus Buckingham

5. “Talent is a long patience, and originality an effort of will and intense observation.” ― Gustave Flaubert

6. “Talent is an accident of genes, and a responsibility.” ― Alan Rickman

7. “Every talent must unfold itself in fighting.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

8. “Discipline and constant work are the whetstones upon which the dull knife of talent is honed until it becomes sharp enough, hopefully, to cut through even the toughest meat and gristle.” ― Stephen King

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9. “Mere talent, without action, is like the unsold racing car at a showroom.” ― Sagar Wazarkar

10. “Talent is given to us by our nature. Greatness, by our efforts.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

11. “Talent is not enough hard work makes the difference.” ― Sunday Adelaja

Talent quotes about instinct and being genius

12. “Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see.” ― Arthur Schopenhauer

13. “Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius.” ― Arthur Conan Doyle

14. “It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious young men and women.” ― Louisa May Alcott

15. “You can have tons of talent, but it won’t necessarily keep you fed. If you have sharp instincts, though, you’ll never go hungry.” ― Haruki Murakami

16. “This man has talent, that man genius, and here’s the strange and cruel difference: talent gives pence and his reward is gold. Genius gives gold and gets no more than pence.” ― William Henry Davies

17. “To be rich and talented at the same time is rare but possible, but the most talented; the genius, is the one crippled and bulldozed into oblivion by the scourge of poverty.” ― Michael Bassey Johnson

18. “No matter how great your talent, talent has to work with knowledge to do anything well.” ― Andrew Loomis

19. “Talented man cannot do the work of a genius man.” ― Amit Kalantri

20. “Talent is something you bloom, Instinct is something you polish.” ― Oikawa Tooru

Talent quotes that will inspire you to follow yours

21. “Everyone has talent. What’s rare is the courage to follow it to the dark places where it leads.” ― Erica Jong

22. “Everybody is talented because everybody who is human has something to express.” ― Brenda Ueland

23. “Talent is extremely common. What is rare is the willingness to endure the life of the writer.” ― Kurt Vonnegut

24. “Skills are common. Talent is rare.” ― Colin Clark

25. “Talent is color-blind, untouched by the color of skin.” ― Haresh Sippy

26. “Everybody has magic, it’s just that most people either don’t know it or don’t believe it.” ― Rebecca McNutt

27. “We each harbor a talent. It hibernates within us, snug yet eager, waiting for the first darling buds of opportunity to emerge.” ― Kevin Ansbro

28. “Some people possess talent and some people are possessed by talent.” ― Jeffrey G. Duarte

29. “Behind every talented person, there is a painful story.” ― Steeven Shaw

Talent quotes about sharing yours

30. “Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What’s a sundial in the shade?” ― Benjamin Franklin

31. “If you ever find that you’re the most talented person in the room, you need to find another room.” ― Austin Kleon

32. “If you’re waiting until you feel talented enough to make it, you’ll never make it.” ― Criss Jami

33. “A man of ordinary talent will always be ordinary, whether he travels or not; but a man of superior talent will go to pieces if he remains forever in the same place.” ― Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

34. “Life is entrusted to man as a treasure which must not be squandered, as a talent which must be used well.” ― Pope John Paul II

35. “If your abilities are only mediocre, modesty is mere honesty; but if you possess great talents, it is hypocrisy.” ― Arthur Schopenhauer

36. “What a man is, begins to betray itself when his talent decreases—when he stops showing what he can do. Talent, too, is finery; finery, too, is a hiding place.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

37. “You just need to discover your superpower and bet on it.” ― Noha Alaa El-Din

38. “Don’t be silent on your talent!” ― Israelmore Ayivor

39. “You are called to serve people and humanity with your talent.” ― Sunday Adelaja

Motivational talent quotes

40. “Believe in yourself. You are braver than you think, more talented than you know, and capable of more than you imagine.” ― Roy T. Bennett

41. “I told her once I wasn’t good at anything. She told me survival is a talent.” ― Susanna Kaysen

42. “The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

43. “If you’re young and talented, it’s like you have wings.” ― Haruki Murakami

44. “We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. But it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities but its own talents.” ― Eric Hoffer

45. “Remember: talent is luck, perseverance is not.” ― Maxime Lagacé

46. “Our attitudes are the wings on which our talent and careers fly or dive.” ― Rasheed Ogunlaru

47. “Talent is a miracle. Tenacity is a mindset. Talent without tenacity will tank out, but tenacity trumps talent over time, every time.” ― Jeremy Gove

48. “Growth happens in adversity. When you come out of your comfort zone, you tend to discover new facets to your creativity and talent. Troubles don’t always break you; they make you too.” ― Avijeet Das

49. “Use your talent for what moves you, if the talent does not come for you, go to for it.” ― Alan Maiccon

50. “Strong desire is talent that is seeking expression.” ― Guy Van Looveren

More talent quotes and sayings

51. “The most talented people are always the nicest.” – James Caan

52. “Talent is useful, but always keep your dagger sharp.” – Amanda Quick

53. “Talent is nothing without persistence.” – Dean Crawford

54. Perfectionism, of course, was something which even as a young man he had come to see as the innermost essence of talent.” – Thomas Mann 1875-1955

55. “If somebody doesn’t have any talent, get off the stage! you’re wasting my time.” – Elaine Stritch

56. “The most obsessed becomes the most talented.” – Maxime Lagacé

57. “Surround yourself with talent and be merciless.” – Chris Barez-Brown

58. “One can steal everything from an artist except their talent.” – Marty Rubin

59. “May your talent always be greater than your heartache.” – Kevin Ansbro

60. “Talent is insignificant. I know a lot of talented ruins. Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck, but, most of all, endurance.” – James Baldwin

Talent Quotes To Help You Discover Your Talent

61. “Talent is a wonderful thing, but it won’t carry a quitter.” — Stephen King

62. If you’ve got a talent, protect it.” — Jim Carrey

63. “A really great talent finds its happiness in execution.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

64. “It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous.” — Robert Benchley

65. Talent is God given.” — John Wooden

66. “It takes little talent to see clearly what lies under one’s nose, a good deal of it to know in which direction to point that organ.” — W.H. Auden.

67. However you make your living is where your talent lies.” — Ernest Hemingway.

68. “Doing easily what others find difficult is talent; doing what is impossible for talent is genius.” — Henri Frederic Amiel

69. We are told that talent creates opportunity, yet it is desire that creates talent.” — Bruce Lee

70. “Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.” — Leo Buscaglia

Which of these talent quotes inspired you the most?

There is no doubt that talent will help you in your endeavors, but it will only take you so far.

You must be able to show up for yourself and put in the work.

Everyone has something that they are talented at.

Sometimes those talents are unique.

You need to look no farther than America’s Got Talent to discover that.

On that show, we have seen people do dangerous acts like knife-throwing.

We have also seen people who can train animals, mime with tape on their faces, and even a  professional regurgitator.

Whatever your talent is, there is an avenue for it!

Be brave and seek it out, and then be prepared to do the hard work to make it shine bright.

Which of these talent quotes and sayings resonated with you best?

Do you have any other inspirational quotes to add?

Let us know in the comment section below.