TALENTS · VERIFIED QUOTE

Trusler Quote

“Men of splendid talents are generally too quick, too volatile, too adventurous, and too unstable to be much relied on; whereas men of common abilities, in a regular, plodding routine of business, act with more regularity and greater certainty. Men of the best intellectual abilities are apt to strike off suddenly, like the tangent of a circle, and cannot be brought into their orbits by attraction or gravity—they often act with such eccentricity as to be lost in the vortex of their own reveries. Brilliant talents in general are like the ignes fatui; they excite wonder, but often mislead. They are not, however, without their use; like the fire from the flint, once produced, it may be converted, by solid, thinking men, to very salutary and noble purposes.”

— Trusler

Source: Three Thousand Selected Quotations from Brilliant Writers — Wikisource

Attribution status: verified · Publication status: cleared

Explore more quotes by Trusler or browse talents quotes.

If you believe this quote is incorrectly attributed or should be removed, see Copyright and quote corrections.