Quote

It's a strange paradox that a man gifted with too many talents can fritter them all away without developing a single one to its full.

Wilbur Smith

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Wilbur Smith
Age: 91
Born: 1933
Born: January 9
Mathematician
Novelist
Screenwriter
Writer
Broken Hill
Wilbur Addison Smith
Men
Developing
Talent
Single
Strange
Full
Fritter
Away
Talents
Without
Gifted
Many
Paradox

More quotes by Wilbur Smith

Image
I'm not a prophet I can only use historical reality to come to a view of the future, and my view is that Africa will return to being African and not European. The advent of colonialism was foreign to the country itself, but it will return to what it was before the Europeans arrived.
Wilbur Smith
Image
I put my soul into every book I write.
Wilbur Smith
Image
You don't turn out as many books as I did then by sitting around, being cozy with the family.
Wilbur Smith
Image
beware of your most implacable enemy-yourself.
Wilbur Smith
Image
I read a lot of biographies and books with an African background.
Wilbur Smith
Image
I think one of the most poignant things is unrequited love and loneliness.
Wilbur Smith
Image
Cape Town's beaches are superb and while the water on the Atlantic side is damn cold, it's very pleasant on the other side. Bring your golf clubs if you play - Cape Town has some fabulous golf courses.
Wilbur Smith
Image
I want to be seen as a good storyteller. I'm a manipulator as well.
Wilbur Smith
Image
A cynic had defined aid as simply the system by which poor white people in rich countries gave money to rich black people in poor countries to put into Swiss bank accounts.
Wilbur Smith
Image
Every time one of my books sells a million copies in paperback, Pan Macmillan gives me a gold statuette of Pan. I have about 20 of them.
Wilbur Smith
Image
Sometimes it is best for men not to attempt to interfere with destiny. Our prayers can be answered in ways which we do not expect and do not welcome.
Wilbur Smith
Image
What I like about writing is the sense of godlike power it gives you.
Wilbur Smith
Image
I have never had too much trouble for creative ideas to spring up in my mind.
Wilbur Smith
Image
They do say that socialism is the ideal philosophy-just as long as you have capitalists to pay for it.
Wilbur Smith
Image
People don't really know themselves until they're 30. Like most people nowadays, I went to university, got a degree and wandered for a bit. I trained to be a chartered accountant, which I didn't much enjoy, and it was only slowly that the idea of becoming a creative writer gelled.
Wilbur Smith
Image
Usually halfway through a book I have a serious depression, so I go on safari on my ranch in South Africa, or fishing off my island in the Seychelles. When I come back and re-read it, I think: 'What was all that about, Smith? It's fine, just get on with it.'
Wilbur Smith
Image
I shot my first lion at the age of 14 when a pride threatened my father's livestock while he was away on holiday.
Wilbur Smith
Image
My first novel was rejected by some of the most eminent publishers in the world. Starting again was a real wrench.
Wilbur Smith
Image
Failure makes success so much sweeter, and allows you to thumb your nose at the crowds.
Wilbur Smith
Image
I love the sea as much as I love the veldt of Africa.
Wilbur Smith