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.

Life has been compared to a race, but the allusion improves by observing, that the most swift are usually the read more

Life has been compared to a race, but the allusion improves by observing, that the most swift are usually the least manageable and the most likely to stray from the course. Great abilities have always been less serviceable to the possessors than moderate ones.

Wicked people are always surprised to find ability in those that are good.

Wicked people are always surprised to find ability in those that are good.

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

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

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.

Men are often capable of greater things than they perform. They are sent into the world with bills of credit, read more

Men are often capable of greater things than they perform. They are sent into the world with bills of credit, and seldom draw to their full extent.

To know how to hide one's ability is great skill.
[Fr., C'est une grande habilete que de savoir cacher read more

To know how to hide one's ability is great skill.
[Fr., C'est une grande habilete que de savoir cacher son
habilete.]

We rate ability in men by what they finish, not by what they attempt

We rate ability in men by what they finish, not by what they attempt

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.