CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-disabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-not-available" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>Ability - Wikiquote</title> <script>(function(){var className="client-js vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-disabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-not-available";var cookie=document.cookie.match(/(?:^|; )enwikiquotemwclientpreferences=([^;]+)/);if(cookie){cookie[1].split('%2C').forEach(function(pref){className=className.replace(new RegExp('(^| )'+pref.replace(/-clientpref-\w+$|[^\w-]+/g,'')+'-clientpref-\\w+( |$)'),'$1'+pref+'$2');});}document.documentElement.className=className;}());RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":false,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""], "wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy","wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"b89426c2-fce5-44d9-985c-d09f03eb58ab","wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":false,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Ability","wgTitle":"Ability","wgCurRevisionId":3595301,"wgRevisionId":3595301,"wgArticleId":126282,"wgIsArticle":true,"wgIsRedirect":false,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Pages with reference errors","Themes"],"wgPageViewLanguage":"en","wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Ability","wgRelevantArticleId":126282,"wgIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgNoticeProject":"wikiquote","wgCiteReferencePreviewsActive":true,"wgMediaViewerOnClick":true,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":true,"wgVisualEditor":{"pageLanguageCode":"en", "pageLanguageDir":"ltr","pageVariantFallbacks":"en"},"wgMFDisplayWikibaseDescriptions":{"search":true,"watchlist":true,"tagline":true,"nearby":true},"wgWMESchemaEditAttemptStepOversample":false,"wgWMEPageLength":20000,"wgCentralAuthMobileDomain":false,"wgEditSubmitButtonLabelPublish":true,"wgULSPosition":"interlanguage","wgULSisCompactLinksEnabled":false,"wgVector2022LanguageInHeader":true,"wgULSisLanguageSelectorEmpty":false,"wgWikibaseItemId":"Q1347367","wgCheckUserClientHintsHeadersJsApi":["brands","architecture","bitness","fullVersionList","mobile","model","platform","platformVersion"],"wgSiteNoticeId":"2.3"};RLSTATE={"ext.globalCssJs.user.styles":"ready","site.styles":"ready","user.styles":"ready","ext.globalCssJs.user":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.cite.styles":"ready","skins.vector.search.codex.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles":"ready","skins.vector.icons":"ready","ext.wikimediamessages.styles":"ready","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript": "ready","ext.uls.interlanguage":"ready","wikibase.client.init":"ready","ext.wikimediaBadges":"ready","ext.dismissableSiteNotice.styles":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","mediawiki.page.media","site","mediawiki.page.ready","skins.vector.js","ext.centralNotice.geoIP","ext.centralNotice.startUp","ext.urlShortener.toolbar","ext.centralauth.centralautologin","mmv.bootstrap","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.init","ext.visualEditor.targetLoader","ext.echo.centralauth","ext.eventLogging","ext.wikimediaEvents","ext.navigationTiming","ext.uls.interface","wikibase.client.vector-2022","ext.checkUser.clientHints","wikibase.sidebar.tracking","ext.dismissableSiteNotice"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.impl(function(){return["user.options@12s5i",function($,jQuery,require,module){mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); }];});});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cext.dismissableSiteNotice.styles%7Cext.uls.interlanguage%7Cext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript%7Cext.wikimediaBadges%7Cext.wikimediamessages.styles%7Cskins.vector.icons%2Cstyles%7Cskins.vector.search.codex.styles%7Cwikibase.client.init&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector-2022"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.44.0-wmf.4"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin-when-cross-origin"> <meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:standard"> <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/King_Alfred_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1329010.jpg"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="1200"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="1600"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/King_Alfred_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1329010.jpg"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="800"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="1067"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="640"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="853"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=1120"> <meta property="og:title" content="Ability - Wikiquote"> <meta property="og:type" content="website"> <link rel="preconnect" href="//upload.wikimedia.org"> <link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)" href="//en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ability"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit" href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit"> <link rel="icon" href="/static/favicon/wikiquote.ico"> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/rest.php/v1/search" title="Wikiquote (en)"> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="//en.wikiquote.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ability"> <link rel="license" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Wikiquote Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//meta.wikimedia.org" /> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//login.wikimedia.org"> </head> <body class="skin--responsive skin-vector skin-vector-search-vue mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Ability rootpage-Ability skin-vector-2022 action-view"><a class="mw-jump-link" href="#bodyContent">Jump to content</a> <div class="vector-header-container"> <header class="vector-header mw-header"> <div class="vector-header-start"> <nav class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-main-menu-dropdown vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Main menu" > <label id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-label" for="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-menu mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-menu"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Main menu</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-main-menu" class="vector-main-menu vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-main-menu-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="main-menu-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-main-menu" data-pinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Main menu</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-navigation" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Navigation </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-mainpage-description" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z"><span>Main page</span></a></li><li id="n-portal" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikiquote:Community_Portal" title="About the project, what you can do, where to find things"><span>Community portal</span></a></li><li id="n-Village-pump" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikiquote:Village_pump"><span>Village pump</span></a></li><li id="n-recentchanges" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes in the wiki [r]" accesskey="r"><span>Recent changes</span></a></li><li id="n-randompage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Load a random page [x]" accesskey="x"><span>Random page</span></a></li><li id="n-help" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Contents" title="The place to find out"><span>Help</span></a></li><li id="n-Contact-Wikiquote" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikiquote:Contact_us"><span>Contact Wikiquote</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-Wikiquote_links" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-Wikiquote_links" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Wikiquote links </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-People" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/List_of_people_by_name"><span>People</span></a></li><li id="n-Literary-works" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/List_of_literary_works"><span>Literary works</span></a></li><li id="n-Proverbs" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Category:Proverbs"><span>Proverbs</span></a></li><li id="n-Films" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/List_of_films"><span>Films</span></a></li><li id="n-TV-shows" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/List_of_television_shows"><span>TV shows</span></a></li><li id="n-Themes" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Category:Themes"><span>Themes</span></a></li><li id="n-Categories" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Category:Categories"><span>Categories</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <a href="/wiki/Main_Page" class="mw-logo"> <img class="mw-logo-icon" src="/static/images/icons/wikiquote.svg" alt="" aria-hidden="true" height="50" width="50"> <span class="mw-logo-container skin-invert"> <img class="mw-logo-wordmark" alt="Wikiquote" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikiquote-wordmark-fr.svg" style="width: 4.8125em; height: 2.5em;"> </span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-header-end"> <div id="p-search" role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-collapses vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box-auto-expand-width vector-search-box"> <a href="/wiki/Special:Search" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only search-toggle" title="Search Wikiquote [f]" accesskey="f"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </a> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail cdx-typeahead-search--auto-expand-width"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div id="simpleSearch" class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikiquote" aria-label="Search Wikiquote" autocapitalize="sentences" title="Search Wikiquote [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput" > <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-user-links vector-user-links-wide" aria-label="Personal tools"> <div class="vector-user-links-main"> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-preferences" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-userpage" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown " title="Change the appearance of the page's font size, width, and color" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Appearance" > <label id="vector-appearance-dropdown-label" for="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-appearance mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-appearance"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Appearance</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-notifications" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-overflow" class="vector-menu mw-portlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="//donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikiquote.org&uselang=en" class=""><span>Donate</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-createaccount-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Ability" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory" class=""><span>Create account</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-login-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Ability" title="You are encouraged to log in; however, it is not mandatory [o]" accesskey="o" class=""><span>Log in</span></a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-user-menu vector-button-flush-right vector-user-menu-logged-out" title="More options" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Personal tools" > <label id="vector-user-links-dropdown-label" for="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-ellipsis mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-ellipsis"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Personal tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-personal" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-personal user-links-collapsible-item" title="User menu" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="//donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikiquote.org&uselang=en"><span>Donate</span></a></li><li id="pt-createaccount" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Ability" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-userAdd mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-userAdd"></span> <span>Create account</span></a></li><li id="pt-login" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Ability" title="You are encouraged to log in; however, it is not mandatory [o]" accesskey="o"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-logIn mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-logIn"></span> <span>Log in</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-user-menu-anon-editor" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-user-menu-anon-editor" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Pages for logged out editors <a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" aria-label="Learn more about editing"><span>learn more</span></a> </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-anoncontribs" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyContributions" title="A list of edits made from this IP address [y]" accesskey="y"><span>Contributions</span></a></li><li id="pt-anontalk" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]" accesskey="n"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> </div> <div class="mw-page-container"> <div class="mw-page-container-inner"> <div class="vector-sitenotice-container"> <div id="siteNotice"><div id="mw-dismissablenotice-anonplace"></div><script>(function(){var node=document.getElementById("mw-dismissablenotice-anonplace");if(node){node.outerHTML="\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-dismissable-notice\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-dismissable-notice-close\"\u003E[\u003Ca tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\"\u003Ehide\u003C/a\u003E]\u003C/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-dismissable-notice-body\"\u003E\u003C!-- CentralNotice --\u003E\u003Cdiv id=\"localNotice\" data-nosnippet=\"\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"anonnotice\" lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"position:absolute; z-index:100; right:100px; top:-0px;\" class=\"metadata\" id=\"donate\"\u003E\n\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align:right; font-size:80%\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EYour \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising\" class=\"extiw\" title=\"wikimedia:Fundraising\"\u003Econtinued donations\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E keep Wikiquote running!\u003C/i\u003E\n\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\n\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/div\u003E";}}());</script></div> </div> <div class="vector-column-start"> <div class="vector-main-menu-container"> <div id="mw-navigation"> <nav id="mw-panel" class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Ability</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 17 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-17" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">17 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-az mw-list-item"><a href="https://az.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bacar%C4%B1q" title="Bacarıq – Azerbaijani" lang="az" hreflang="az" data-title="Bacarıq" data-language-autonym="Azərbaycanca" data-language-local-name="Azerbaijani" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Azərbaycanca</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talent" title="Talent – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Talent" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cy mw-list-item"><a href="https://cy.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gallu" title="Gallu – Welsh" lang="cy" hreflang="cy" data-title="Gallu" data-language-autonym="Cymraeg" data-language-local-name="Welsh" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Cymraeg</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikiquote.org/wiki/F%C3%A4higkeit" title="Fähigkeit – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Fähigkeit" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eo mw-list-item"><a href="https://eo.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kapablo" title="Kapablo – Esperanto" lang="eo" hreflang="eo" data-title="Kapablo" data-language-autonym="Esperanto" data-language-local-name="Esperanto" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Esperanto</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-et mw-list-item"><a href="https://et.wikiquote.org/wiki/V%C3%B5ime" title="Võime – Estonian" lang="et" hreflang="et" data-title="Võime" data-language-autonym="Eesti" data-language-local-name="Estonian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Eesti</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%AA" title="قابلیت – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="قابلیت" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikiquote.org/wiki/%EB%8A%A5%EB%A0%A5" title="능력 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="능력" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-lt mw-list-item"><a href="https://lt.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gabumai" title="Gabumai – Lithuanian" lang="lt" hreflang="lt" data-title="Gabumai" data-language-autonym="Lietuvių" data-language-local-name="Lithuanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Lietuvių</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pl mw-list-item"><a href="https://pl.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zdolno%C5%9Bci" title="Zdolności – Polish" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" data-title="Zdolności" data-language-autonym="Polski" data-language-local-name="Polish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Polski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikiquote.org/wiki/Capacidade" title="Capacidade – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Capacidade" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ro mw-list-item"><a href="https://ro.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abilitate" title="Abilitate – Romanian" lang="ro" hreflang="ro" data-title="Abilitate" data-language-autonym="Română" data-language-local-name="Romanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Română</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8" title="Способности – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Способности" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sl mw-list-item"><a href="https://sl.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talent" title="Talent – Slovenian" lang="sl" hreflang="sl" data-title="Talent" data-language-autonym="Slovenščina" data-language-local-name="Slovenian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Slovenščina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sq mw-list-item"><a href="https://sq.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aft%C3%ABsia" title="Aftësia – Albanian" lang="sq" hreflang="sq" data-title="Aftësia" data-language-autonym="Shqip" data-language-local-name="Albanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Shqip</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ta mw-list-item"><a href="https://ta.wikiquote.org/wiki/%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B1%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%88" title="திறமை – Tamil" lang="ta" hreflang="ta" data-title="திறமை" data-language-autonym="தமிழ்" data-language-local-name="Tamil" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>தமிழ்</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tr mw-list-item"><a href="https://tr.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yetenek" title="Yetenek – Turkish" lang="tr" hreflang="tr" data-title="Yetenek" data-language-autonym="Türkçe" data-language-local-name="Turkish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Türkçe</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q1347367#sitelinks-wikiquote" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Ability" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c"><span>Page</span></a></li><li id="ca-talk" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Talk:Ability" rel="discussion" title="Discussion about the content page [t]" accesskey="t"><span>Discussion</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown emptyPortlet" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Change language variant" > <label id="vector-variants-dropdown-label" for="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">English</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-variants" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-variants emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation" class="vector-collapsible"> <nav aria-label="Views"> <div id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-views" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-view" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Ability"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-edit" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-history" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-tools-dropdown" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Tools" > <label id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-label" for="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-page-tools" class="vector-page-tools vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-page-tools-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="page-tools-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-page-tools" data-pinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Tools</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-cactions emptyPortlet vector-has-collapsible-items" title="More options" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Actions </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-more-view" class="selected vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Ability"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-edit" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-history" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=history"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-tb" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-tb" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> General </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-whatlinkshere" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Ability" title="A list of all wiki pages that link here [j]" accesskey="j"><span>What links here</span></a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Ability" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k"><span>Related changes</span></a></li><li id="t-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:UploadWizard" title="Upload files [u]" accesskey="u"><span>Upload file</span></a></li><li id="t-specialpages" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages" title="A list of all special pages [q]" accesskey="q"><span>Special pages</span></a></li><li id="t-permalink" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&oldid=3595301" title="Permanent link to this revision of this page"><span>Permanent link</span></a></li><li id="t-info" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=info" title="More information about this page"><span>Page information</span></a></li><li id="t-cite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=Ability&id=3595301&wpFormIdentifier=titleform" title="Information on how to cite this page"><span>Cite this page</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UrlShortener&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikiquote.org%2Fwiki%2FAbility"><span>Get shortened URL</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener-qrcode" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:QrCode&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikiquote.org%2Fwiki%2FAbility"><span>Download QR code</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-coll-print_export" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-coll-print_export" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Print/export </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="coll-create_a_book" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:Book&bookcmd=book_creator&referer=Ability"><span>Create a book</span></a></li><li id="coll-download-as-rl" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:DownloadAsPdf&page=Ability&action=show-download-screen"><span>Download as PDF</span></a></li><li id="t-print" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&printable=yes" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p"><span>Printable version</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-wikibase-otherprojects" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-wikibase-otherprojects" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> In other projects </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-commons mw-list-item"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Aptitude" hreflang="en"><span>Wikimedia Commons</span></a></li><li class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikipedia mw-list-item"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptitude" hreflang="en"><span>Wikipedia</span></a></li><li id="t-wikibase" class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikibase-dataitem mw-list-item"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q1347367" title="Link to connected data repository item [g]" accesskey="g"><span>Wikidata item</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-column-end"> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-appearance" class="vector-appearance vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-appearance-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="appearance-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-appearance" data-pinned-container-id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Appearance</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.unpin">hide</button> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikiquote</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:King_Alfred_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1329010.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/King_Alfred_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1329010.jpg/220px-King_Alfred_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1329010.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="293" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/King_Alfred_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1329010.jpg/330px-King_Alfred_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1329010.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/King_Alfred_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1329010.jpg/440px-King_Alfred_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1329010.jpg 2x" data-file-width="480" data-file-height="640" /></a><figcaption>The wicked are always surprised to find ability in the <a href="/wiki/Good" class="mw-redirect" title="Good">good</a>. ~ <a href="/wiki/Luc_de_Clapiers,_Marquis_de_Vauvenargues" title="Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues">Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues</a> </figcaption></figure> <p><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ability" class="extiw" title="w:Ability">Ability</a></b> can refer to the <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/capability" class="extiw" title="w:capability">capability</a></b> of performing or achieving certain actions or outcomes through a set of controllable and measurable faculties, features, functions, processes, or services, or to <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/aptitude" class="extiw" title="w:aptitude">aptitude</a></b> and definite levels of competence in performing such kinds of <a href="/wiki/Work" title="Work">work</a>. </p> <div role="navigation" style="margin-left: 2em;"> <p>Arranged alphabetically by author or source:<br /><a href="#A">A</a> · <a href="#B">B</a> · <a href="#C">C</a> · <a href="#D">D</a> · <a href="#E">E</a> · <a href="#F">F</a> · <a href="#G">G</a> · <a href="#H">H</a> · <a href="#I">I</a> · <a href="#J">J</a> · <a href="#K">K</a> · <a href="#L">L</a> · <a href="#M">M</a> · <a href="#N">N</a> · <a href="#O">O</a> · <a href="#P">P</a> · <a href="#Q">Q</a> · <a href="#R">R</a> · <a href="#S">S</a> · <a href="#T">T</a> · <a href="#U">U</a> · <a href="#V">V</a> · <a href="#W">W</a> · <a href="#X">X</a> · <a href="#Y">Y</a> · <a href="#Z">Z</a> · <a href="#See_also">See also</a> · <a href="#External_links">External links</a> </p> </div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="A">A</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: A"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Empyrean_Light_and_Shadows_of_Salvation.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Empyrean_Light_and_Shadows_of_Salvation.jpg/220px-Empyrean_Light_and_Shadows_of_Salvation.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="244" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Empyrean_Light_and_Shadows_of_Salvation.jpg/330px-Empyrean_Light_and_Shadows_of_Salvation.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Empyrean_Light_and_Shadows_of_Salvation.jpg/440px-Empyrean_Light_and_Shadows_of_Salvation.jpg 2x" data-file-width="858" data-file-height="952" /></a><figcaption>In <a href="/wiki/Dreams" title="Dreams">dreams</a> and in <a href="/wiki/Love" title="Love">love</a> there are no <a href="/wiki/Impossibilities" class="mw-redirect" title="Impossibilities">impossibilities</a>. ~ <a href="/wiki/J%C3%A1nos_Arany" title="János Arany">János Arany</a> </figcaption></figure> <ul><li><i>Álomban és szerelemben nincs lehetetlenség</i>. <ul><li><b>In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities.</b></li> <li><b>Mu birooto oba mu kwagala teri kitasoboka.</b> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/J%C3%A1nos_Arany" title="János Arany">János Arany</a>, as quoted in <i>Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources</i> (1893) by James Wood, p. 11.</li></ul></li></ul></li> <li>Ability involves responsibility.</li> <li>Obusobozi bujjirako obuvunaanyizibwa.</li></ul> <pre><a href="/wiki/Power" title="Power">Power</a> to its last particle is duty. </pre> <p>Obuyinza okuva ku ntandikwa okutuusa ku nkomerero buba buvunaanyizibwa . </p> <ul><li><ul><li><a href="/wiki/Alexander_Maclaren" title="Alexander Maclaren">Alexander Maclaren</a>, quoted in <i>Three Thousand Selected Quotations From Brilliant Writers</i> (1909) by Josiah H. Gilbert, p. 1.</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="B">B</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: B"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Natural abilities are like natural plants; they need pruning by study. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Francis_Bacon" title="Francis Bacon">Francis Bacon</a>, <i>Essays</i>.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Knowing what you can <i>not</i> do is more important than knowing what you can do. In fact, that's good taste. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Lucille_Ball" title="Lucille Ball">Lucille Ball</a>, as quoted in <i>The Real Story of Lucille Ball</i> (1954) by Eleanor Harris, Ch. 1.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>He'll find a way. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/J._M._Barrie" title="J. M. Barrie">J. M. Barrie</a>, <i>Sentimental Tommy</i>, indicating the Corp's belief in Tommy and Tommy's in himself.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>ABILITY, n. The natural equipment to accomplish some small part of the meaner ambitions distinguishing able men from dead ones. In the last analysis ability is commonly found to consist mainly in a high degree of solemnity. Perhaps, however, this impressive quality is rightly appraised; it is no easy task to be solemn. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ambrose_Bierce" title="Ambrose Bierce">Ambrose Bierce</a>, <i>The Cynic's Dictionary</i> (1906); republished as <i>The Devil's Dictionary</i> (1911).</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>De chacun selon ses facultés, à chacun selon ses besoins; <ul><li>German: Jeder nach seinen Fähigkeiten, jedem nach seinen Bedürfnissen</li> <li>English: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.</li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Blanc" class="extiw" title="w:Louis Blanc">Louis Blanc</a>'s <i>Plus de Girondins</i>, (1851), p. 92 popularized by <a href="/wiki/Karl_Marx" title="Karl Marx">Karl Marx</a> in (1875). <i>"Part I". Critique of the Gotha Program.</i></li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Man is not altogether an imbecile. True, "circumstances do make the man." But they make him only in the sense and degree that he permits them to make him. <ul><li>Luganda: Ssi buli muntu nti mugwaagwa. ky'amazima 'ebintu omuntu byayitamu by'ebimufuula kyaali.' Naye bimukyuusa okusinziira ku kigera kye nga bwakkiriza okubiganya okumukyuusa</li> <li><a href="/wiki/George_D._Boardman" class="mw-redirect" title="George D. Boardman">George D. Boardman</a>, reported in <i>Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers</i> (1895) by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, p. 1.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Men who undertake considerable things, even in a regular way, ought to give us ground to presume ability. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Edmund_Burke" title="Edmund Burke">Edmund Burke</a>, <i>Reflections on the Revolution in France</i> (1790).</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>For as our modern wits behold,<br />Mounted a pick-back on the old,<br />Much farther off, much further he,<br />Rais'd on his aged Beast, could see. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Samuel_Butler_(poet)" title="Samuel Butler (poet)">Samuel Butler</a>, <i>Hudibras</i>, Part I (1663-64), Canto II, line 971; a similar idea is found in an essay on Sir <a href="/wiki/James_Mackintosh" title="James Mackintosh">James Mackintosh</a> by <a href="/wiki/Thomas_Babington_Macaulay,_1st_Baron_Macaulay" class="mw-redirect" title="Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay">Baron Macaulay</a>.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>He could raise scruples dark and nice,<br />And after solve 'em in a trice:<br />As if Divinity had catch'd<br />The itch, on purpose to be scratch'd. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Samuel_Butler_(poet)" title="Samuel Butler (poet)">Samuel Butler</a>, <i>Hudibras</i>, Part I (1663-64), Canto I, line 163.</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="C">C</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: C"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>You are a devil at everything, and there is no kind of thing in the 'versal world but what you can turn your hand to. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Miguel_de_Cervantes" title="Miguel de Cervantes">Miguel de Cervantes</a>, <i>Don Quixote</i> (1605-15), Part I, Book III, Chapter XI.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Natural ability without education has more often attained to glory and virtue than education without natural ability. <ul><li>Luganda: Emirindi minji nga abo abayina obusobozi obuzaale batuuka ku buwanguzi nebwaba nga tebasooma okusinga abo abasooma naye nga tebayina busobozi buzaale.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cicero" title="Cicero">Cicero</a>, <i>Pro Archia Poeta</i>.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><i>Etiam illud adjungo, sæpius ad laudem atque virtutem naturam sine doctrina, quam sine natura valisse doctrinam</i>. <ul><li>I add this also, that natural ability without education has oftener raised man to glory and virtue, than education without natural ability. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cicero" title="Cicero">Cicero</a>, <i>Oratio Pro Licinio Archia</i>, VII.</li></ul></li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>The Dwarf sees farther than the Giant, when he has the Giant's shoulders to mount on. <ul><li>Luganda:Omuntu omumpi asobola okulengera ewala okusinga naggwano singa aba ayina ebibegabega bya naggwano kweyerippa.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Samuel_Taylor_Coleridge" title="Samuel Taylor Coleridge">Samuel Taylor Coleridge</a>, <i>The Friend; A Series of Essays</i> (1812), No. 15 (30 November 1809), p. 228; comparable to <a href="/wiki/Isaac_Newton" title="Isaac Newton">Isaac Newton</a>, in a letter to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hooke" class="extiw" title="w:Robert Hooke">Robert Hooke</a> (15 February 1676): "If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants".</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="D">D</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: D"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>I don't even know how to use a parking meter, let alone a phone box. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Diana,_Princess_of_Wales" title="Diana, Princess of Wales">Diana, Princess of Wales</a>, as quoted in <i>The Times</i> (22 August 1994), replying to allegations that she had been making nuisance telephone calls.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Every person is responsible for only the good within his abilities, and for no more, and no one can tell whose sphere is the largest. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Mary_Abigail_Dodge" title="Mary Abigail Dodge">Mary Abigail Dodge</a>,<i>Country Living and Country Thinking</i>, reported in <i>Bartlett's Familiar Quotations</i>, 10th edition (1919).</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Could swell the soul to rage, or kindle soft desire. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/John_Dryden" title="John Dryden">John Dryden</a>, <i>Alexander's Feast</i> (1697), line 160.</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="E">E</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: E"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Our chief want in life is somebody who shall make us do what we can. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson" title="Ralph Waldo Emerson">Ralph Waldo Emerson</a>, in "Considerations by the Way" in <i>The Conduct of Life</i> (1860).</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Pigmies placed on the shoulders of giants see more than the giants themselves. <ul><li>Luganda: Abambuti abali ku bibegabega bya ba naggwano balaba binji okusinga ba naggwano bennyini.</li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_de_Estella" class="extiw" title="w:Diego de Estella">Diego de Estella (Didacus Stella)</a>, <i>Lucan</i>, Volume II, 10; quoted by <a href="/wiki/Robert_Burton" title="Robert Burton">Robert Burton</a>, <i>The Anatomy of Melancholy</i> (1621), <i>Democritus to the Reader</i>.</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="F">F</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: F"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>One should oblige everyone to the extent of one's ability. One often needs someone smaller than oneself. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Jean_de_La_Fontaine" title="Jean de La Fontaine">Jean de La Fontaine</a>, <i>Fables II 'Le Lion et le Rat'</i>.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>As we advance in life, we learn the limits of our abilities. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/James_Anthony_Froude" title="James Anthony Froude">James Anthony Froude</a>, <i>Short Studies on Great Subjects</i> (1867-1882), "Education".</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="G">G</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: G"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><b>The possession of great powers no doubt carries with it a contempt for mere external show.</b> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/James_A._Garfield" title="James A. Garfield">James A. Garfield</a>, “Life and Character of Almeda A. Booth”, Memorial address at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiram_College" class="extiw" title="w:Hiram College">Hiram College</a>, (22 June 1876), in <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=rA4XAAAAYAAJ"><i>President Garfield and Education : Hiram College Memorial</i> (1881) by B. A. Hinsdale, p. 420</a></li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Edward_Gibbon" title="Edward Gibbon">Edward Gibbon</a>, <i>The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire</i> (1776), Volume 1, Chap. 68.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Breath is strange, if you hold it for too long you run out. <ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Yuval_Greenfield&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Yuval Greenfield (page does not exist)">Yuval Greenfield</a>, <i>The Rise of a great man, early memories</i> (1956), Volume 2, Chap. 14.</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="H">H</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: H"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything; but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. <ul><li>Luganda: Yadde ndi bwa namunigina, wendi. Sisobola kukola buli kimu; naye nsobola okubaako kyenkola; eky'okuba nga sisobola kukola byonna tekinzibira kukola ekyo kyensobola okukola.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Edward_Everett_Hale" title="Edward Everett Hale">Edward Everett Hale</a>, in Jeanie Ashley Bates Greenough, <i>A Year of Beautiful Thoughts‎</i> (1902), p. 172. This is often misattributed to <a href="/wiki/Helen_Keller" title="Helen Keller">Helen Keller</a> since the 1980s.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Every person is responsible for all the good within the scope of his abilities, and for no more, and none can tell whose sphere is the largest. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Gail_Hamilton" class="mw-redirect" title="Gail Hamilton">Gail Hamilton</a>, <i>Country Living and Country Thinking</i>, <i>Men and Women</i>.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>A Dwarf on a Giant's shoulder sees farther of the two. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/George_Herbert" title="George Herbert">George Herbert</a>, <i>Jacula Prudentum</i> (1651).</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Every man who can be a first-rate something - as every man can be who is a man at all - has no right to be a fifth-rate something; for a fifth-rate something is not better than a first-rate nothing. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/J._G._Holland" class="mw-redirect" title="J. G. Holland">J. G. Holland</a>, <i>Plain Talks on Familiar Subjects</i>.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>There is something that is much more scarce, something finer far, something rarer than ability. It is the ability to recognize ability. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Elbert_Hubbard" title="Elbert Hubbard">Elbert Hubbard</a>, "The Crying Need", in <i>A Message to Garcia, and Thirteen Other Things</i> (1901), p. 163.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Elbert_Hubbard" title="Elbert Hubbard">Elbert Hubbard</a>, <i>A thousand & one epigrams, selected from the writings of Elbert Hubbard</i> (1911).</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="L">L</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: L"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>The art of using moderate abilities to advantage wins praise, and often acquires more reputation than actual brilliancy. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_de_La_Rochefoucauld" title="François de La Rochefoucauld">François de La Rochefoucauld</a>, <i>Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims</i> (1665–1678), Maxim 162.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><i>C'est une grande habileté que de savoir cacher son habileté</i>. <ul><li>To know how to hide one's ability is great skill. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_de_La_Rochefoucauld" title="François de La Rochefoucauld">François de La Rochefoucauld</a>, <i>Maximes</i> (1665–1678), 245.</li></ul></li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>What we do upon a great occasion will probably depend upon what we already are; what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline, under the <a href="/wiki/Grace" title="Grace">grace</a> of <a href="/wiki/Christ" title="Christ">Christ</a> or the absence of it. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Henry_Liddon" title="Henry Liddon">Henry Liddon</a>, as reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, <i>Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers</i> (1895), p. 1.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>To the very last, he [Napoleon] had a kind of idea; that, namely, of <i>la carrière ouverte aux talents</i> — <b>the tools to him that can handle them.</b> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/John_Gibson_Lockhart" title="John Gibson Lockhart">John Gibson Lockhart</a>, <i>Sir Walter Scott</i> in <i>London and Westminster Review</i> (1838).</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><b>We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.</b> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow" title="Henry Wadsworth Longfellow">Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</a>, <i>Kavanagh: A Tale</i> (1849), Chapter 1.</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="M">M</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: M"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.mindsquotes.com/top-ability-quotes/">Ability</a> involves <a href="/wiki/Responsibility" title="Responsibility">responsibility</a>. <a href="/wiki/Power" title="Power">Power</a> to its last particle is <a href="/wiki/Duty" title="Duty">duty</a>. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Alexander_Maclaren" title="Alexander Maclaren">Alexander Maclaren</a>, reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, <i>Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers</i> (1895), p. 1.</li></ul></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=When_you_open_your_mind_and_hands_and_heart_to_the_knowing_of_a_thing,_there_is_no_room_in_you_for_fear.&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="When you open your mind and hands and heart to the knowing of a thing, there is no room in you for fear. (page does not exist)">When you open your mind and hands and heart to the knowing of a thing, there is no room in you for fear.</a> <ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Patricia_McKillip&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Patricia McKillip (page does not exist)">Patricia McKillip</a> <i>The Riddle Master of Hed</i> (1974)</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="N">N</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: N"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Our vanity desires that what we do best should be considered what is hardest for us. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche" title="Friedrich Nietzsche">Friedrich Nietzsche</a>, <i>Beyond Good and Evil</i>.</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="P">P</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: P"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Competence, like truth, beauty and contact lenses, is in the eye of the beholder. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Laurence_J._Peter" title="Laurence J. Peter">Laurence J. Peter</a>, <i>The Peter Principle</i>.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><b>Rust Cohle</b>: Life’s barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you get good at. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/True_Detective_(TV_series)" class="mw-redirect" title="True Detective (TV series)">True Detective (TV series)</a> <i>After You've Gone</i>, written by Nic Pizzolatto</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>A Traveler at Sparta, standing long upon one leg, said to a Lacedaemonian, "I do not believe you can do as much." <br /> "True," said he, "but every goose can." <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Plutarch" title="Plutarch">Plutarch</a>, as attributed in "Apophthegmata Laconica" (a.k.a. "Laconic Apothegms" or "Sayings of the Spartans"), <i>Remarkable Speeches of Some Obscure Men</i>, in <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moralia" class="extiw" title="w:Moralia">Moralia</a></i>.</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Q">Q</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Q"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><i>Illud tamen in primis testandum est, nihil præcepta atque artes valere nisi adjuvante natura</i>. <ul><li>One thing, however, I must premise, that without the assistance of natural capacity, rules and precepts are of no efficacy. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Quintilian" title="Quintilian">Quintilian</a>, <i>Proœmium</i>, I. 4.</li></ul></li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="R">R</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: R"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><i>Die Menschen gehen wie Schiesskugeln weiter, wenn sie abgeglättet sind</i>. <ul><li>Men, like bullets, go farthest when they are smoothest. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Jean_Paul_Richter" class="mw-redirect" title="Jean Paul Richter">Jean Paul Richter</a>, <i>Titan</i>, Zykel 26.</li></ul></li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="S">S</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: S"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>How can you know what you're capable of if you don't embrace the unknown? <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Esmeralda_Santiago" title="Esmeralda Santiago">Esmeralda Santiago</a> <i>Conquistadora</i> (2011)</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><i>Parvus pumilio, licet in monte constiterit; colossus magnitudinem suam servabit, etiam si steterit in puteo</i>. <ul><li>A dwarf is small even if he stands on a mountain; a colossus keeps his height, even if he stands in a well. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Seneca_the_Elder" title="Seneca the Elder">Seneca the Elder</a>, <i>Epistles</i>, 76.</li></ul></li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Every man loves what he is good at. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Thomas_Shadwell" title="Thomas Shadwell">Thomas Shadwell</a>, <i>A True Widow</i>.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Courage is never born with a person; time and circumstances inject it into a person and bring it forth from within. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sanu_Sharma" title="Sanu Sharma">Sanu Sharma</a>, <i>Tee Saat Din</i></li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Those who can bend need not be taught how to stand tall.<sup id="cite_ref-Goodreads_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Goodreads-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sanu_Sharma" title="Sanu Sharma">Sanu Sharma</a>, <i>Nishabda Swar</i></li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>One who intends to understand grasps even the slightest hint, but the one who has no intention to understand never comprehends, no matter how loudly you shout. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sanu_Sharma" title="Sanu Sharma">Sanu Sharma</a>, <i>Lockdown</i></li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Martyrdom... is the only way in which a man can become famous without ability. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/George_Bernard_Shaw" title="George Bernard Shaw">George Bernard Shaw</a>, <i>The Devil's Disciple</i>.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>The world is like a board with holes in it, and the square men have got into the round holes. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sydney_Smith" title="Sydney Smith">Sydney Smith</a>, as quoted in <i>Punch</i>.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>We shall generally find that the triangular person has got into the square hole, the oblong into the triangular, and a square person has squeezed himself into the round hole. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sydney_Smith" title="Sydney Smith">Sydney Smith</a>, <i>Sketches of Moral Philosophy</i>.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>A man must not deny his manifest abilities, for that is to evade his obligations. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Robert_Louis_Stevenson" title="Robert Louis Stevenson">Robert Louis Stevenson</a>, <i>The Treasure of Franchard</i>.</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="T">T</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: T"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>I think you are gonna find, when it's over... I think you're gonna find yourself one smilin' motherfucker. The thing is Butch, right now, you've got ability. But painful as it may be, ability don't last. And your days are just about over. Now that's a hard motherfuckin' fact of life. But it's a fact of life your ass is gonna hafta get realistic about. See this business is filled to the brim with unrealistic motherfuckers. Motherfuckers who thought their ass would age like wine. If you mean it turns to vinegar, it does. If you mean it gets better with age, it don't. Besides Butch, how many fights you think you got left in you anyway? Two? Boxers don't have an 'old timer's day.' You came close, but you never made it, and if you were gonna make it, you woulda made it before now. <ul><li>Quentin Tarantino, <i><a href="/wiki/Pulp_Fiction" title="Pulp Fiction">Pulp Fiction</a></i>, character Marsellus Wallace.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Read my little fable:<br />He that runs may read.<br />Most can raise the flowers now,<br />For all have got the seed. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Alfred_Tennyson" class="mw-redirect" title="Alfred Tennyson">Alfred Tennyson</a>, <i>The Flowers</i>.</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="V">V</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: V"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><i>Les méchants sont toujours surpris de trouver de l'habileté dans les bons.</i> <ul><li><b>The wicked are always surprised to find ability in the good.</b> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Luc_de_Clapiers,_Marquis_de_Vauvenargues" title="Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues">Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues</a>, <i>Réflexions</i>, CIII.</li></ul></li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><i>Possunt, quia posse videntur</i>. <ul><li><b>They are able because they think they are able.</b> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Virgil" title="Virgil">Virgil</a>, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeneid" class="extiw" title="w:Aeneid">Æneid</a></i> (29-19 BC), Book V, line 231.</li></ul></li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="W">W</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: W"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Stevie_Wonder_1967_(1).jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Stevie_Wonder_1967_%281%29.jpg/220px-Stevie_Wonder_1967_%281%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="334" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Stevie_Wonder_1967_%281%29.jpg/330px-Stevie_Wonder_1967_%281%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Stevie_Wonder_1967_%281%29.jpg/440px-Stevie_Wonder_1967_%281%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2406" data-file-height="3648" /></a><figcaption>We all have ability. The difference is how we use it. ~ <a href="/wiki/Stevie_Wonder" title="Stevie Wonder">Stevie Wonder</a> </figcaption></figure> <ul><li><b>Men are often capable of greater things than they perform.</b> They are sent into the world with bills of credit, and seldom draw to their full extent. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Horace_Walpole" title="Horace Walpole">Horace Walpole</a>, as quoted in "The Works of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford" in <i>The Monthly Review, or, Literary Journal</i>, Volume 27 (1798) edited by Ralph Griffiths, p. 187.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Intelligence" title="Intelligence">Intelligence</a> is quickness to apprehend as distinct from ability, which is capacity to act wisely on the thing apprehended. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Alfred_North_Whitehead" title="Alfred North Whitehead">Alfred North Whitehead</a>, <i>Dialogues</i>.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><b>I had never doubted my own abilities, but I was quite prepared to believe that "the world" would decline to recognize them.</b> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Colin_Wilson" title="Colin Wilson">Colin Wilson</a> in <i>Postscript to the Outsider </i>, p. 3 (1967)</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><b>We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.</b> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Stevie_Wonder" title="Stevie Wonder">Stevie Wonder</a>, as quoted in <i>The Story of Stevie Wonder</i> (1976) by James Haskins, Ch. 1 : Growing Up in a World of Darkness.</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Y">Y</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: Y"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Who does the best his circumstance allows <br /> Does well, acts nobly; angels could no more. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Edward_Young" title="Edward Young">Edward Young</a>, <i>Night Thoughts</i> (1742–1745), "Night II", line 91.</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ability&action=edit&section=20" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="noprint metadata" style="clear: right; border: solid #aaa 1px; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; font-size: 90%; background: #f9f9f9; width: 250px; padding: 4px; spacing: 0px; text-align: left; float: right;"> <div style="float: left;"><figure class="mw-halign-none" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Wiktionary-logo.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="Wiktionary"><img alt="Wiktionary" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/Wiktionary-logo.svg/50px-Wiktionary-logo.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="47" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/Wiktionary-logo.svg/75px-Wiktionary-logo.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/Wiktionary-logo.svg/100px-Wiktionary-logo.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="370" data-file-height="350" /></a><figcaption>Wiktionary</figcaption></figure></div> <div style="margin-left: 60px;">Look up <i><b><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:Search/Ability" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:Special:Search/Ability">Ability</a></b></i> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiktionary" class="extiw" title="w:Wiktionary">Wiktionary</a>, the free dictionary</div> </div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/three-thousand-selected-quotations-from-brilliant-writers-josiah-h.-gilbert-the-">Josiah H. Gilbert: <i>Three Thousand Selected Quotations From Brilliant Writers</i>, The S. S. Scranton Co Publishers (1909)</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-Goodreads-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-Goodreads_1-0">↑</a></span> <span class="error mw-ext-cite-error" lang="en" dir="ltr">Cite error: Invalid <code><ref></code> tag; no text was provided for refs named <code>Goodreads</code></span></li> </ol></div>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Ability&oldid=3595301">https://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Ability&oldid=3595301</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Category</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Themes" title="Category:Themes">Themes</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden category: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Pages_with_reference_errors" title="Category:Pages with reference errors">Pages with reference errors</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 10 October 2024, at 12:24.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License</a>; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the <a class="external text" href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms_of_Use">Terms of Use</a> and <a class="external text" href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy">Privacy Policy.</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places"> <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/Wikiquote:About">About Wikiquote</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimers"><a href="/wiki/Wikiquote:General_disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-wm-codeofconduct"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct">Code of Conduct</a></li> <li id="footer-places-developers"><a href="https://developer.wikimedia.org">Developers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-statslink"><a href="https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/en.wikiquote.org">Statistics</a></li> <li id="footer-places-cookiestatement"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Cookie_statement">Cookie statement</a></li> <li id="footer-places-mobileview"><a href="//en.m.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Ability&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile" class="noprint stopMobileRedirectToggle">Mobile view</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/static/images/footer/wikimedia-button.svg" width="84" height="29" alt="Wikimedia Foundation" loading="lazy"></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki.svg" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"></a></li> </ul> </footer> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-settings" id="p-dock-bottom"> <ul></ul> </div><script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgHostname":"mw-web.codfw.main-f69cdc8f6-gbbp4","wgBackendResponseTime":128,"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.051","walltime":"0.071","ppvisitednodes":{"value":183,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":959,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":0,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":4,"limit":100},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":0,"limit":500},"unstrip-depth":{"value":0,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":173,"limit":5000000},"entityaccesscount":{"value":0,"limit":400},"timingprofile":["100.00% 8.094 1 -total"," 42.46% 3.437 1 Template:TOCalpha"," 38.68% 3.131 1 Template:Wiktionary"]},"cachereport":{"origin":"mw-web.codfw.main-7d9797f5d-9nsx4","timestamp":"20241119232330","ttl":2592000,"transientcontent":false}}});});</script> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","name":"Ability","url":"https:\/\/en.wikiquote.org\/wiki\/Ability","sameAs":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q1347367","mainEntity":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q1347367","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Contributors to Wikimedia projects"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.wikimedia.org\/static\/images\/wmf-hor-googpub.png"}},"datePublished":"2005-05-17T15:08:47Z","dateModified":"2024-10-10T12:24:43Z","image":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/f\/f8\/King_Alfred_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1329010.jpg","headline":"ability to perform an action or fulfill a role"}</script> </body> </html>