Gifted Hands Quotes

“Success is determined not by whether or not you face obstacles, but by your reaction to them. And if you look at these obstacles as a containing fence, they become your excuse for failure. If you look at them as a hurdle, each one strengthens you for the next.”
― Ben Carson, Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

“...my awakening life.
I am awake in the present.
The present is today.
Today is a great gift.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita

“Leaders are not known by their positions; they are known by their roles in those position. You have many gifts as a leader, but your dominant gift is what you will use to lead.”
― Israelmore Ayivor

“We are endowed with different kinds of gifts for different kinds of services.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita, Think Great: Be Great!

“Chef Ayden says you have something special. An 'affinity with the things that come from the dirt,' he says. A master of spices. And coming from Ayden that means a lot. He doesn't usually believe in natural inclinations. Only in working hard enough to make the hard work seem effortless. Is it true about you?"
I know my eyebrows look about ready to parachute off my face. "You mean the bay-leaf thing?"
"No more oil, that's good." She takes the bowl of marinated octopus from my hand, covers it with a red cloth, and puts it in the fridge. "The 'bay-leaf thing' is exactly what I mean. You're new to Spain. From what your teacher tells me, not many of you have had exposure to world cuisines. Yet, you know a variety of herb that looks and smells slightly different when found outside of this region. I'm sure you've probably seen it in other ways. You've probably mixed spices together no one told you would go together. Cut a vegetable in a certain way that you believe will render it more flavorful. You know things that no one has taught you, sí?"
I shake my head no at her. 'Buela always said I had magic hands but I've never said it out loud about myself. And I don't know if I believed it was magic as much as I believed I'm a really good cook. But she is right; most of my experimenting is with spices. "My aunt Sarah sends me recipes that I practice with. And I watch a lot on Food Network. Do you have that channel here? It's really good. They have this show called Chopped-"
Chef Amadí puts down the rag she was wiping down the counter with and takes my hands in hers. Studies my palms. "Chef Ayden tells me you have a gift. If you don't want to call it magic, fine. You have a gift and it's probably changed the lives of people around you. When you cook, you are giving people a gift. Remember that.”
― Elizabeth Acevedo, With the Fire on High

“I don’t know if I’ll get in at Stanford,” one premed said to me after he had sent in his application. “Or anywhere else,” he added.
Another mentioned a different school, but the students’ worries were essentially the same. I seldom got involved in what I called freaking out, but this kind of talk happened often, especially during our senior year.
One time when this freaking out was going on and I didn’t enter in, one of my friends turned to me, “Carson, aren’t you worried?”
“No,” I said. “I’m going to the University of Michigan Medical School.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“It’s real simple. My father owns the university.”
“Did you hear that?” he yelled at one of the others. “Carson’s old man owns the University of Michigan.” Several students were impressed. And understandably because they came from extremely wealthy homes. Their parents owned great industries. Actually, I had been teasing, and maybe it wasn’t playing fair. As a Chrisitan, I believe that God— my Heavenly Father— not only created the universe, but He controls it. And, by extension, God owns the University of Michigan and everything else.
I never did explain.”
― Ben Carson, Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

“Genius & Conspiracy (The Sonnet)

Wherever there is extraordinary genius,
There are extraordinary conspiracy theories.
Because the human mind cannot distinguish,
Supernatural mysticism from natural mysteries.
Wherever there is exceptional talent,
There is talk of divine intervention.
Because the mind cannot fathom excellence,
Without involving some good old mystification.
We may tolerate some conspiracies that are innocent,
But those that do harm are human rights violation.
If we can't use it when we need to use it the most,
What's the point in carrying around a lofty brain!
There are times when reason must take a back seat,
Then there're times, ignorance mustn't be given heed.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Corazon Calamidad: Obedient to None, Oppressive to None