I'm very comfortable with the idea of there being late bloomers, and for me, of course, there's no difficulty at all in the way that I think of talent and achievement and so on.
Interpretation
Success can come at any stage in life, and talent is not always evident early on.
This quote emphasizes the idea that people can achieve their potential later in life, suggesting that talent and success are not limited to young prodigies. Daniel Tammet expresses comfort with the concept of 'late bloomers,' indicating that individual paths to achievement can vary widely, and that it is essential to recognize and value diverse timelines of growth.
In practice
This quote can inspire students who feel pressure to succeed academically early on.
I had eventually come to understand that friendship was a delicate, gradual process that mustn’t be rushed or seized upon but allowed and encouraged to take its course over time. I pictured it as a butterfly, simultaneously beautiful and fragile, that once afloat belonged to the air and any attempt to grab at it would only destroy it.
My mother is not a model. She is not perfect. That awareness is part of learning to love someone. Predicting the actions of someone is an act of love. We persist, even when we get it wrong. That's the beauty of love.
In my mind, numbers and words are far more than squiggles of ink on a page. They have form, color, texture and so on. They come alive to me, which is why as a young child I thought of them as my 'friends.'
Why learn a number like pi to so many decimal places? The answer I gave then as I do now is that pi is for me an extremely beautiful and utterly unique thing. Like the Mona Lisa or a Mozart symphony, pi is its own reason for loving it.
Like works of literature, mathematical ideas help expand our circle of empathy, liberating us from the tyranny of a single, parochial point of view. Numbers, properly considered, make us better people.
Let the path be open to talent.
Go to the young conductors who are not making it, and you will hear how we shouldn't push ourselves or sell ourselves, how they don't have the right connections and the right opportunities. Well, you can be sure they've had the opportunities.
I often say to the athletes, that I know about their 'neon skills' - the ones that light up and make them easily recognizable. The power of a fighter, the finesse, the agility, the legs, the quickness. But what about being steady, or being dependable? These are more important traits.
I learned at a young age to dribble with both hands, and that allows me to be more creative when I go against bigger and stronger opponents.
(Offensive Coach) Paul Hackett realized that Joe Montana knew more about the offense than he did, but when the meeting was over, Paul saw that Joe had taken three pages of notes. He documented exactly how Paul wanted to run the play, as well as all of the basics of it and its details. That's what a professional does.
Achieving the MDGs is not optional; it is an essential investment in a safer, more human and prosperous world
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