Prodigies Quotes - Page 3

• You cannot imagine how it spoils one to have been a child prodigy.

  Franz Liszt

  Children, Imagine, Spoil

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• In life's last scene what prodigies surprise,
  Fears of the brave, and follies of the wise!
  From Marlborough's eyes the streams of dotage flow,
  And Swift expires a driveller and a show.

  Samuel Johnson

  Life, Wise, Eye

  Samuel Johnson (1820). “The Poems of Dr. Samuel Johnson. To which is Prefixed, a Life of the Author”, p.39

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• Those who 'cursed the day they were born' must have been infant prodigies.

  Ethel Mumford

  Born, Infant, Cursed

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• But how shall we excuse the supine inattention of the Pagan and philosophic world to those evidences which were presented by the hand of Omnipotence, not to their reason, but to their senses? During the age of Christ, of his apostles, and their first disciples, the doctrine which they preached was confirmed by innumerable prodigies. The lame walked, the blind saw, the sick were healed, the dead were raised, daemons were expelled, and the laws of Nature were frequently suspended for the benefit of the church.

  Edward Gibbon

  Hands, Law, Omnipotence

  Edward Gibbon (1854). “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”, p.84

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• The philosopher, who with calm suspicion examines the dreams and omens, the miracles and prodigies, of profane or even of ecclesiastical history, will probably conclude that, if the eyes of the spectators have sometimes been deceived by fraud, the understanding of the readers has much more frequently been insulted by fiction.

  Edward Gibbon

  Dream, Eye, History

  Edward Gibbon (2015). “History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire V2: the History Focus”, p.155, 谷月社

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• Life is atrocious, we know. But precisely because I expect little of the human condition, man's periods of felicity, his partial progress, his efforts to begin over again and continue, all seem to me like so many prodigies which nearly compensate for the monstrous mass of ills and defeats, of indifference and error. Catastrophe and ruin will come; disorder will triumph, but order will too, from time to time.

  Marguerite Yourcenar

  Loss, Men, Order

  Marguerite Yourcenar (1954). “Memoirs of Hadrian”

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• I can remember wondering as a child if I were a young Macaulay or Ruskin and secretly deciding that I was. My infant mind even was bitter with those who insisted on regarding me as a normal child and not as a prodigy.

  W.N.P. Barbellion

  Children, Mind, Normal

  'Journal of a Disappointed Man' (1919) 23 Oct. 1910

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• I was called a dance prodigy since I was young. A prodigy is like a genius. But I'm not a genius. It's just that what I do a little bit better than others, and that happens to be dancing.

  Min

  Dancing, Genius, Littles

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• I wrote half the record in 2002, which basically concluded with us releasing "Baby's Got A Temper," the last single. I think after the disappointment of that record for myself with the lack of energy and the way the record came out, I would say that was probably the low point of The Prodigy.

  Liam Howlett

  Baby, Disappointment, Thinking

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• I have never been a child prodigy. When I think back to my childhood, I can not discern any sign of future success. My only real talent couldn't be found in any curriculum: whistling.

  Bobbejaan Schoepen

  Children, Real, Thinking

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• Ah, a German and a genius ! A prodigy, admit him !

  Jonathan Swift

  Genius, Last Words

  Jonathan Swift (1998). “The Sayings of Jonathan Swift”, p.44, Gerald Duckworth & Co

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• Well, I love what you would call boys' music, you know, the prodigy, banging techno, music that girls generally don't like.

  Chris Lowe

  Girl, Boys, Techno

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• When you saw the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," that was Michael [Jackson]'s story write large. Born as an elderly person, Benjamin Button was, in the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel and in the film starring Brad Pitt, he dies as a newborn child. Michael Jackson's childhood was one of enormous, prodigious production.He was a child prodigy, he was a wunderkind.

  Michael Eric Dyson

  Children, Writing, Elderly

  Source: www.pbs.org

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• An infant prodigy of nine is shoved upon the stage in white. She starts off in a dismal whine about a dark and stormy night, a burglar, whose heart is true, despite his wicked-looking face, who puts the little child in doom, to save her mamma's jewel case. This may bring tears to every eye; it does not set my heart on fire. I'd like to stand serenely by and watch that horrid child expire.

  Noel Coward

  Children, Heart, Eye

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• A man does not wonder at what he sees frequently, even though he be ignorant of the reason. If anything happens which he has not seen before, he calls it a prodigy.

  Marcus Tullius Cicero

  Men, Ignorant, Doe

  "De Divinatione", II. 22, as quoted in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 259-60,

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• I have always been a singer, a writer, and a musician, not as a prodigy or as in a trade handed to me by my parents, but because of an inner voice or maybe a command from beyond reality as it is usually defined.

  Black Francis

  Reality, Voice, Parent

  "Black Francis can't tell Rock Chickens from EGGS" by Scott Thill, www.wired.com. July 30, 2009.

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• I was never a prodigy.

  Lindsay Davenport

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• He continued to be an infant long after he ceased to be a prodigy.

  Robert Moses

  Long, Intellectual, Intelligence

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• I'm perpetually curious as to what happened to all those supposed prodigies who were singled out while I and my coterie of far more interesting malcontents passed on.

  Wendy Wasserstein

  Success, Interesting, Curious

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• There are lots of different interpretations of the word 'prodigy.' My own is of someone who is talented and tries to help other children. So in that respect I could be called one, although I don't think I'll go off the rails.

  Adora Svitak

  Children, Helping Others, Thinking

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• How many may a man of diffusive conversation count among his acquaintances, whose lives have been signalized by numberless escapes; who never cross the river but in a storm, or take a journey into the country without more adventures than befel the knights-errant of ancient times in pathless forests or enchanted castles! How many must he know, to whom portents and prodigies are of daily occurrence; and for whom nature is hourly working wonders invisible to every other eye, only to supply them with subjects of conversation?

  Samuel Johnson

  Country, Adventure, Eye

  Samuel Johnson (1825). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.”, p.23

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• I don't know if I'd call myself a prodigy, but I was a big forensics competitor in high school, and then during college I spent some time working at speech and debate camps as a coach.

  Josh Gad

  School, College, Speech

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• I was never pegged to be the next great American tennis player by any means. I wasn't a prodigy. I'm a late bloomer. Whatever happens, I'm proud of what I've done.

  John Isner

  Mean, Player, Tennis

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• Albert [Brooks] was rare in that he could make adults laugh. He was a prodigy. At age 15 and 16, he could make my dad laugh uncontrollably. And whenever we had parties, some of the funniest people of my generation - whether it was Billy Crystal or Robin Williams or John Belushi - would be doing shtick.

  Rob Reiner

  Dad, Party, People

  Source: www.avclub.com

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• To be honest, I don't really consider myself a prodigy. Learning the piano, I have encountered some difficulties. There are many challenges in playing and I've grown frustrated at times... But because I like to play the piano, I never thought of giving up. I was always able to overcome difficulties in pianistic techniques. Yes, there might be some 'traffic lights', but they all turned 'green'.

  George Li

  Giving Up, Light, Play

  Interview with Elijah Ho, www.thecounterpoints.com. January 26, 2012.

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