"Ability is of little account without opportunity."
-Napoleon Bonaparte

"Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
"A man must not deny his manifest abilities, for that is to evade his obligations."
-William Feather, The Treasure of Franchard

"Ability will never catch up with the demand for it."
-Malcolm Stevenson Forbes

"Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment."
-Baltasar Gracian, The Oracle

"We don't know who we are until we see what we can do."
-Martha Grimes

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein, Lazarus Long

Deep within man dwell those slumbering powers; powers that would astonish him, that he never dreamed of possessing; forces that would revolutionize his life if aroused and put into action.
-Orison Swett Marden

As simple as it sounds, we all must try to be the best person we can: by making the best choices, by making the most of the talents we've been given.
-Mary Lou Retton

Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.
-John Wooden

"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."
-John Wooden