38 Inspirational Ability Quotes

In a world brimming with challenges and opportunities, the power of inspirational quotes can serve as a guiding light, fueling determination and resilience. Whether it’s facing personal hurdles or striving for professional growth, the right words have the potential to shift perspectives and ignite a sense of purpose. Our curated collection of the top 38 Inspirational Ability Quotes is designed to empower and motivate, offering insights and encouragement to harness one's inner strength. Prepare to embark on a journey of reflection and inspiration, where each quote serves as a beacon, illuminating the path to unlocking your full potential and embracing your unique abilities.

1. “The greatest thing a man can do in this world, is to make the most possible out of the stuff that has been given him. This is success, and there is no other.” - Orison Swett Marden

2. “Dimidium facti qui coepit habet: sapere aude" ("He who has begun is half done: dare to know!").” - Horace

3. “They are able who think they are able.” - Virgil

4. “I think humans are only capable of small moments of honesty. Then they get tired and back away. It's something to foster, this ability to keep it for longer. How to keep being honest and aware.” - Laura Pritchett

5. “Measure yourself by...what you have accomplished with your ability” - John Wooden

6. “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” - Edward Everett Hale

7. “Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.” - Norman Vincent Peale

8. “Ability is of little account without opportunity.” - Napoleon Bonaparte

9. “Sometimes life knocks you on your ass... get up, get up, get up!!! Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them.” - Steve Maraboli

10. “More than ambition, more than ability, it is rules that limit contribution; rules are the lowest common denominator of human behavior. They are a substitute for rational thought.” - Hyman G. Rickover

11. “Fransisco, you're some kind of very high nobility, aren't you?" He answered, "Not yet. The reason my family has lasted for such a long time is that none of us has ever been permitted to think he is born a d'Anconia. We are expected to become one.” - Ayn Rand

12. “Many people pray to be kept out of unexpected problems. Some people pray to be able to confront and overcome them.” - Toba Beta [Betelgeuse Incident]

13. “Not all can believe anything they want to, because not all have the ability to believe.” - Toba Beta

14. “It shouldn't be easy to be amazing. Then everything would be. It's the things you fight for and struggle with before earning that have the greatest worth. When something's difficult to come by, you'll do that much more to make sure it's even harder―or impossible―to lose.” - Sarah Dessen

15. “Natural ability without education has more often raised a man to glory and virtue than education without natural ability.” - Marcus T. Cicero

16. “The really unhappy person is the one who leaves undone what they can do, and starts doing what they don't understand; no wonder they come to grief.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

17. “People are so constituted that everybody would rather undertake what they see others do, whether they have an aptitude for it or not.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

18. “Ability without honor is useless.” - Marcus Tullius Cicero

19. “The first requisite for success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly without growing weary.” - Thomas A. Edison

20. “I never had any doubts about my abilities. I knew I could write. I just had to figure out how to eat while doing this.[Cormac McCarthy's Venomous Fiction, New York Times, April 19, 1992]” - Cormac McCarthy

21. “But talent—if you don't encourage it, if you don't train it, it dies. It might run wild for a little while, but it will never mean anything. Like a wild horse. If you don't tame it and teach it to run on track, to pace itself and bear a rider, it doesn't matter how fast it is. It's useless.” - Elizabeth Hand

22. “Fear is the lack of faith in one's ability to create powerful solutions.” - T.F. Hodge

23. “The veil that clouds your eyes shall be lifted by the hands that wove it, And the clay that fills your ears shall be pierced by those fingers that kneaded it. And you shall see.And you shall hear.” - Khalil Gibran

24. “Tell him,' the colonel said, smiling, 'that a person doesn’t die when he should but when he can.” - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

25. “[The wives of powerful noblemen] must be highly knowledgeable about government, and wise – in fact, far wiser than most other such women in power. The knowledge of a baroness must be so comprehensive that she can understand everything. Of her a philosopher might have said: "No one is wise who does not know some part of everything." Moreover, she must have the courage of a man. This means that she should not be brought up overmuch among women nor should she be indulged in extensive and feminine pampering. Why do I say that? If barons wish to be honoured as they deserve, they spend very little time in their manors and on their own lands. Going to war, attending their prince's court, and traveling are the three primary duties of such a lord. So the lady, his companion, must represent him at home during his absences. Although her husband is served by bailiffs, provosts, rent collectors, and land governors, she must govern them all. To do this according to her right she must conduct herself with such wisdom that she will be both feared and loved. As we have said before, the best possible fear comes from love. When wronged, her men must be able to turn to her for refuge. She must be so skilled and flexible that in each case she can respond suitably. Therefore, she must be knowledgeable in the mores of her locality and instructed in its usages, rights, and customs. She must be a good speaker, proud when pride is needed; circumspect with the scornful, surly, or rebellious; and charitably gentle and humble toward her good, obedient subjects. With the counsellors of her lord and with the advice of elder wise men, she ought to work directly with her people. No one should ever be able to say of her that she acts merely to have her own way. Again, she should have a man's heart. She must know the laws of arms and all things pertaining to warfare, ever prepared to command her men if there is need of it. She has to know both assault and defence tactics to insure that her fortresses are well defended, if she has any expectation of attack or believes she must initiate military action. Testing her men, she will discover their qualities of courage and determination before overly trusting them. She must know the number and strength of her men to gauge accurately her resources, so that she never will have to trust vain or feeble promises. Calculating what force she is capable of providing before her lord arrives with reinforcements, she also must know the financial resources she could call upon to sustain military action. She should avoid oppressing her men, since this is the surest way to incur their hatred. She can best cultivate their loyalty by speaking boldly and consistently to them, according to her council, not giving one reason today and another tomorrow. Speaking words of good courage to her men-at-arms as well as to her other retainers, she will urge them to loyalty and their best efforts.” - Christine de Pizan

26. “The ability to withstand the flinch comes with the knowledge that the future will be better than the past.” - Julien Smith

27. “The generality of mankind is lazy. What distinguishes men of genuine achievement from the rest of us is not so much their intellectual powers and aptitudes as their curiosity, their energy, their fullest use of their potentialities. Nobody really knows how smart or talented he is until he finds the incentives to use himself to the fullest. God has given us more than we know what to do with.” - Sydney J. Harris

28. “If you can dream it, you can do it.” - Helen Keller

29. “Sometimes it is more important to discover what one cannot do, than what one can do.” - Lin Yutang

30. “Some girls have to go to college to discover what they are good at; some are born doing what they must without even truly knowing why. I felt a hole in my heart shaped like a dark door I needed to guard.” - Catherynne M. Valente

31. “Statistics, likelihoods, and probabilities mean everything to men, nothing to God.” - Richelle E. Goodrich

32. “I tell you this true story just to prove that I can. That my frailty has not yet reached a point at which I can no longer tell a true story.” - Joan Didion

33. “A hero is defined by what he or she can do, not by what he or she cannot do.” - Damon Throop

34. “A true master will not deceive an able disciple. You are hampered by the limits you set and no limit can be set on skill.” - Wayne Gerard Trotman

35. “Never a horse that can’t be rode and never a rider that can’t be throwed. (I’ll pass this off as my own, but I really stole it from my father, a cowboy and rodeo rider in his younger years.)” - Earle Gray

36. “General Napoleon says that ability is of little account without opportunity. The opposite is also correct: Opportunity is of little account without ability.” - Mehmet Murat ildan

37. “Don't question your ability. You were created to succeed and live a life of purpose.   Don't you dare put a question-mark where God put a period!” - Steve Maraboli

38. “God does not ask your abilityOr your inability.He asks only your availability.” - Mary Kay Ash