I have known men who could see through the motivations of others with the skill of a clairvoyant; only to prove blind to their own mistakes. I have been one of those men.
'Tis skill, not strength, that governs a ship.
There are few misfortunes in this world that you cannot turn into a personal trimuph if you have the iron will and the neccessary skill.
If we are to give our utmost effort and skill and enthusiasm, we must believe in ourselves, which means believing in our past and in our future, in our parents and in our children, in that particular blend of moral purpose and practical inventiveness which is the American character.
Listening (the first competence of leadership) is not a skill, it is a discipline. All you have to do is keep your mouth shut.
Being a successful investor & winning in the stock market is a matter of skill & discipline and not luck alone
Force has no place where there is need of skill
The life of man is like a game with dice; if you don't get the throw you want, you must show your skill in making the best of the throw you get.
I was aware that on my skill as a painter would depend the physical and moral possession of the model.
All one can do is to achieve nakedness, to be what one is with all one's faculties and perceptions, strengthened by all the skill which one can acquire. And then to stand before the judgement of time.
We all have a vast number of areas in which we have no talent or skill and little chance of becoming even mediocre. In those areas a knowledge workers should not take on work, jobs and assignments. It takes far more energy to improve from incompetence to mediocrity than it takes to improve from first-rate performance to excellence.
As an actor, there is room for a certain amount of creativity, but you're always ultimately going to be saying somebody else's words. I don't think I'd have the stamina, skill or ability to write a novel, but I'd love to write short stories and poetry, because those are my two passions.
To the soldier, luck is merely another word for skill.
Sometimes you need to live with a painting for a while. Starting a painting can be easy, but finishing it. . . that's the skill of the painter, how you finally know when it's done.
First, the skill of storytelling helps to galvanize your team. Second, the discipline of storytelling requires leaders to be clear about their intentions and to prioritize what fits into the story versus secondary goals and issues. Third, there is possibly an artifact here - great storytellers can make their exploits and achievements sound very exciting and memorable. Successful leaders who are not good storytellers won't get the acknowledgement and appreciation they deserve.
And so, at the age of thirty, I had successively disgraced myself with three fine institutions, each of which had made me free of its full and rich resources, had trained me with skill and patience, and had shown me nothing but forbearance and charity when I failed in trust.
If you don't develop your skill at enjoying what you have, you won't be any happier when you get more.
Hollywood is a far safer place to work than working abroad, because of the skill level, and because of the safety considerations that experience and unionization have created.
If the power to do hard work is not a skill, it's the best possible substitute for it.
Skill in concentrating and steadying the mind is the basis for all types of meditation.