Gift Quotes
By Alan Reiner – July 18, 2024
‘Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.’ – Bil Keane
‘You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.’ – Desmond Tutu
‘To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift.’ – Steve Prefontaine
‘God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say ‘thank you?” – William Arthur Ward
‘Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.’ – Leo Buscaglia
‘God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.’ – Voltaire
‘Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art.’ – Stanislaw Jerzy Lec
‘Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.’ – Buddha
‘Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have – life itself.’ – Walter Anderson
‘Live your life while you have it. Life is a splendid gift. There is nothing small in it. Far the greatest things grow by God’s law out of the smallest. But to live your life, you must discipline it.’ – Florence Nightingale
‘Stupidity is also a gift of God, but one mustn’t misuse it.’ – Pope John Paul II
‘The greatest gift that you can give to others is the gift of unconditional love and acceptance.’ – Brian Tracy
‘Music is God’s gift to man, the only art of Heaven given to earth, the only art of earth we take to Heaven.’ – Walter Savage Landor
‘The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it.’ – Hubert H. Humphrey
‘I believe that the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you.’ – Joyce Meyer
‘Give yourself a gift of five minutes of contemplation in awe of everything you see around you. Go outside and turn your attention to the many miracles around you. This five-minute-a-day regimen of appreciation and gratitude will help you to focus your life in awe.’ – Wayne Dyer
‘Let us realize that: the privilege to work is a gift, the power to work is a blessing, the love of work is success!’ – David O. McKay
‘We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself. You’ve got to keep watering it. You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it.’ – John Lennon
‘Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us.’ – Boris Pasternak
‘My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.’ – Jim Valvano
‘The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.’ – Albert Einstein
‘Take advantage of every opportunity to practice your communication skills so that when important occasions arise, you will have the gift, the style, the sharpness, the clarity, and the emotions to affect other people.’ – Jim Rohn
‘Because of the dog’s joyfulness, our own is increased. It is no small gift. It is not the least reason why we should honor as love the dog of our own life, and the dog down the street, and all the dogs not yet born.’ – Mary Oliver
‘Science is a beautiful gift to humanity; we should not distort it.’ – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
‘Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is God’s gift, that’s why we call it the present.’ – Joan Rivers
‘When you learn something from people, or from a culture, you accept it as a gift, and it is your lifelong commitment to preserve it and build on it.’ – Yo-Yo Ma
‘Beauty is a fragile gift.’ – Ovid
‘I think, at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity.’ – Eleanor Roosevelt
‘Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.’ – Tony Robbins
‘Every birthday is a gift. Every day is a gift.’ – Aretha Franklin
‘Me, as a person, I grow. I’m like a chameleon. You know? That is a gift and a curse for me. But more so a gift, because it never puts me in a box.’ – Kendrick Lamar
‘The greatest gift is the ability to forget – to forget the bad things and focus on the good.’ – Joe Biden
‘The greatest gift of leadership is a boss who wants you to be successful.’ – Jon Taffer
‘I think that the greatest gift God ever gave man is not the gift of sight but the gift of vision. Sight is a function of the eyes, but vision is a function of the heart.’ – Myles Munroe
‘The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy.’ – Meryl Streep
‘A voice is a human gift; it should be cherished and used, to utter fully human speech as possible. Powerlessness and silence go together.’ – Margaret Atwood
‘Even when life challenges us, it’s a gift beyond all measure.’ – Parker Palmer
‘Nature’s beauty is a gift that cultivates appreciation and gratitude.’ – Louie Schwartzberg
‘A friend is a gift you give yourself.’ – Robert Louis Stevenson
‘Technology is a gift of God. After the gift of life it is perhaps the greatest of God’s gifts. It is the mother of civilizations, of arts and of sciences.’ – Freeman Dyson
‘Today I am the happiest man in the world, my son was born and thanks to God for this gift.’ – Lionel Messi
‘To confer the gift of drawing, we must create an eye that sees, a hand that obeys, a soul that feels; and in this task, the whole life must cooperate. In this sense, life itself is the only preparation for drawing. Once we have lived, the inner spark of vision does the rest.’ – Maria Montessori
‘You know, God gave me a gift to do other things besides play the game of basketball.’ – LeBron James
‘Reading should not be presented to children as a chore, a duty. It should be offered as a gift.’ – Kate DiCamillo
‘Start living now. Stop saving the good china for that special occasion. Stop withholding your love until that special person materializes. Every day you are alive is a special occasion. Every minute, every breath, is a gift from God.’ – Mary Manin Morrissey
‘Love the giver more than the gift.’ – Brigham Young
‘That’s my gift. I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck’s back. If it’s not positive, I didn’t hear it. If you can overcome that, fights are easy.’ – George Foreman
‘I try to be grateful for the abundance of the blessings that I have, for the journey that I’m on and to relish each day as a gift.’ – James McGreevey
‘Hope is like peace. It is not a gift from God. It is a gift only we can give one another.’ – Elie Wiesel
‘Whoever will be free must make himself free. Freedom is no fairy gift to fall into a man’s lap. What is freedom? To have the will to be responsible for one’s self.’ – Max Stirner
‘Yes, Mother. I can see you are flawed. You have not hidden it. That is your greatest gift to me.’ – Alice Walker
‘I’m not really religious but very spiritual. I give money to this company that manufactures hearing aids on a regular basis. More people should really hear me sing. I have a gift from God.’ – Christina Aguilera
‘Freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another as a gift. Thy claim it as their own and none can keep it from them.’ – Kwame Nkrumah
‘The great gift of Easter is hope – Christian hope which makes us have that confidence in God, in his ultimate triumph, and in his goodness and love, which nothing can shake.’ – Basil Hume
‘If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.’ – Margaret Mead
‘The table is a meeting place, a gathering ground, the source of sustenance and nourishment, festivity, safety, and satisfaction. A person cooking is a person giving: Even the simplest food is a gift.’ – Laurie Colwin
‘The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.’ – Ralph Waldo Emerson
‘Sketching is almost everything. It is the painter’s identity, his style, his conviction, and then color is just a gift to the drawing.’ – Fernando Botero
‘Guilt: the gift that keeps on giving.’ – Erma Bombeck
‘A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer.’ – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
‘Every day is a gift from God. There’s no guarantee of tomorrow, so that tells me to see the good in this day to make the most of it.’ – Joel Osteen
‘God never gives someone a gift they are not capable of receiving. If he gives us the gift of Christmas, it is because we all have the ability to understand and receive it.’ – Pope Francis
‘What if you gave someone a gift, and they neglected to thank you for it – would you be likely to give them another? Life is the same way. In order to attract more of the blessings that life has to offer, you must truly appreciate what you already have.’ – Ralph Marston
‘Suffering passes, while love is eternal. That’s a gift that you have received from God. Don’t waste it.’ – Laura Ingalls Wilder
‘Life is a precious gift – a gift we often take for granted until it is threatened.’ – Lecrae
‘First, I have to thank God for giving me the gift that he did as well as a second chance for a better life.’ – Oksana Baiul
‘Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; but that the good may not think it a great good, God dispenses it even to the wicked.’ – Saint Augustine
‘Every day is a gift from God, no matter how old we are.’ – Billy Graham
‘A book is a gift you can open again and again.’ – Garrison Keillor
‘Love is, above all, the gift of oneself.’ – Jean Anouilh
‘The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.’ – Henri Nouwen
‘I believe that we are here for each other, not against each other. Everything comes from an understanding that you are a gift in my life – whoever you are, whatever our differences.’ – John Denver
‘My mother is a strong woman. Her strength comes from being tested by life’s unpredictability. It comes from soldiering on for her children, even when she might rather have given up. I know it hasn’t always come easily, but I also know it’s her greatest gift.’ – Matt Lauer
‘Education is our greatest opportunity to give an irrevocable gift to the next generation.’ – Ernie Fletcher
‘When the world is so complicated, the simple gift of friendship is within all of our hands.’ – Maria Shriver
‘If I were given the opportunity to present a gift to the next generation, it would be the ability for each individual to learn to laugh at himself.’ – Charles M. Schulz
‘There’s no greater gift than thinking that you had some impact on the world, for the better.’ – Gloria Steinem
‘I have a gift for enraging people, but if I ever bore you it will be with a knife.’ – Louise Brooks
‘If you can give your child only one gift, let it be enthusiasm.’ – Bruce Barton
‘Your anger is a gift.’ – Zack de la Rocha
‘The priesthood is not really so much a gift as it is a commission to serve, a privilege to lift, and an opportunity to bless the lives of others.’ – Thomas S. Monson
‘Being out there in the ocean, God’s creation, it’s like a gift He has given us to enjoy.’ – Bethany Hamilton
‘I was a gift to my mother. She was a remarkable person. God or nature, or whatever those forces are, smiled on her, then passed me the best of her.’ – Sidney Poitier
‘Toleration is the greatest gift of the mind; it requires the same effort of the brain that it takes to balance oneself on a bicycle.’ – Helen Keller
‘Hope… is the companion of power, and the mother of success; for who so hopes has within him the gift of miracles.’ – Samuel Smiles
‘The greatest gift in life is to be remembered.’ – Ken Venturi
‘If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.’ – George MacDonald
‘My speed is a gift from God, and I run for His glory. Whatever I do, it all comes from him.’ – Allyson Felix
‘To give somebody your time is the biggest gift you can give.’ – Franka Potente
‘Find out what your gift is and nurture it.’ – Katy Perry
‘Beauty is a gift, just like good health or intelligence. The only thing is not to be proud of being beautiful. Because you didn’t do anything – it was given to you.’ – Monica Bellucci
‘Greet every morning with open arms and say thanks every night with a full heart. Each day is a precious gift to be savored and used, not left unopened and hoarded for a future that may never come.’ – Regina Brett
‘In some parts of the world, students are going to school every day. It’s their normal life. But in other part of the world, we are starving for education… it’s like a precious gift. It’s like a diamond.’ – Malala Yousafzai
‘Every gift from a friend is a wish for your happiness.’ – Richard Bach
‘Without culture, and the relative freedom it implies, society, even when perfect, is but a jungle. This is why any authentic creation is a gift to the future.’ – Albert Camus
‘Love’s greatest gift is its ability to make everything it touches sacred.’ – Barbara De Angelis
‘Cease to inquire what the future has in store, and take as a gift whatever the day brings forth.’ – Horace
‘To my young friends out there: Life can be great, but not when you can’t see it. So, open your eyes to life: to see it in the vivid colors that God gave us as a precious gift to His children, to enjoy life to the fullest, and to make it count. Say yes to your life.’ – Nancy Reagan
‘I’ve written some great things. That’s a gift, but there’s consequences. Yeah, you get this great work, but you suffer. You really, really suffer.’ – Frank Ocean
‘We are all gifted, but we have to discover the gift, uncover the gift, nurture and develop the gift and use it for the Glory of God and for the liberation struggle of our people.’ – Louis Farrakhan
‘The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.’ – Pierre Corneille
‘The greatest gift that you can give yourself is a little bit of your own attention.’ – Anthony J. D’Angelo
‘We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man’s estate, is the gift of education.’ – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
‘Life is a gift, given in trust – like a child.’ – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
‘The great powers of the world may have done wonders in giving the world an industrial look, but the great gift still has to come from Africa – giving the world a more human face.’ – Steven Biko
‘He who loves with purity considers not the gift of the lover, but the love of the giver.’ – Thomas a Kempis
‘Agency is a divine gift to you. You are free to choose what you will be and what you will do.’ – Russell M. Nelson
‘I would rather be adorned by beauty of character than jewels. Jewels are the gift of fortune, while character comes from within.’ – Plautus
‘Love is the greatest gift that God has given us. It’s free.’ – Taraji P. Henson
‘While salvation is a free gift, the ‘winning Christ’ can only be through unreserved consecration and unquestioning obedience. Nor is this a hardship, but the highest privilege.’ – Hudson Taylor
‘One of the most important gifts a parent can give a child is the gift of accepting that child’s uniqueness.’ – Fred Rogers
‘It is possible to become discouraged about the injustice we see everywhere. But God did not promise us that the world would be humane and just. He gives us the gift of life and allows us to choose the way we will use our limited time on earth. It is an awesome opportunity.’ – Cesar Chavez
‘I believe in God, who made of one blood all nations that on earth do dwell. I believe that all men, black and brown and white, are brothers, varying through time and opportunity, in form and gift and feature, but differing in no essential particular, and alike in soul and the possibility of infinite development.’ – W. E. B. Du Bois
‘We all have a gift; we all have a passion – it’s just about finding it and going into it. Being an asset to your family and community.’ – Angela Bassett
‘Honor is a gift a man gives himself. You can be as good as anyone that ever lived. If you can read, you can learn everything that anyone ever learned. But you’ve got to want it.’ – Ricky Gervais
‘Pakistan not only means freedom and independence but the Muslim Ideology which has to be preserved, which has come to us as a precious gift and treasure and which, we hope other will share with us.’ – Muhammad Ali Jinnah
‘The children have been a wonderful gift to me, and I’m thankful to have once again seen our world through their eyes. They restore my faith in the family’s future.’ – Jackie Kennedy
‘When God hands you a gift, he also hands you a whip; and the whip is intended for self-flagellation solely.’ – Truman Capote
‘My favorite Christmas gift as a child was – I had a ninja turtle skateboard.’ – Danny Amendola
‘Immortality is not a gift, Immortality is an achievement; And only those who strive mightily Shall possess it.’ – Edgar Lee Masters
‘I always had a philosophy which I got from my father. He used to say, ‘Listen. God gave to you the gift to play football. This is your gift from God. If you take care of your health, if you are in good shape all the time, with your gift from God no one will stop you, but you must be prepared.” – Pele
‘I have great belief in the fact that whenever there is chaos, it creates wonderful thinking. I consider chaos a gift.’ – Septima Poinsette Clark
‘The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.’ – Emile Zola
‘When you’re in a position to have gotten so much, the gift at this point is giving back.’ – Paul Stanley
‘Sometimes we may ask God for success, and He gives us physical and mental stamina. We might plead for prosperity, and we receive enlarged perspective and increased patience, or we petition for growth and are blessed with the gift of grace. He may bestow upon us conviction and confidence as we strive to achieve worthy goals.’ – David A. Bednar
‘While we have the gift of life, it seems to me the only tragedy is to allow part of us to die – whether it is our spirit, our creativity or our glorious uniqueness.’ – Gilda Radner
‘Sobriety was the greatest gift I ever gave myself. I don’t put it on a platform. I don’t campaign about it. It’s just something that works for me. It enabled me to really connect with another human being – my wife, Sheryl – which I was never able to do before.’ – Rob Lowe
‘I thought my life was mapped out. Research, living in the forest, teaching and writing. But in ’86 I went to a conference and realised the chimpanzees were disappearing. I had worldwide recognition and a gift of communication. I had to use them.’ – Jane Goodall
‘The imagination is an innate gift, but it needs refinement and cultivation; this is what the humanities provide.’ – Martha Nussbaum
‘Writing is an extreme privilege but it’s also a gift. It’s a gift to yourself and it’s a gift of giving a story to someone.’ – Amy Tan
‘Because I am able, I smile. It is a gift to be able to smile, and I don’t take it for granted.’ – Tabitha Brown
‘Critique, feedback, reaction to one’s work or the way they have presented it, regardless of intention, is a gift.’ – Mark Brand
‘The love of beauty in its multiple forms is the noblest gift of the human cerebrum.’ – Alexis Carrel
‘When you know in your bones that your body is a sacred gift, you move in the world with an effortless grace. Gratitude and humility rise up spontaneously.’ – Debbie Ford
‘Forgetfulness – a gift of God bestowed upon debtors in compensation for their destitution of conscience.’ – Ambrose Bierce
‘The greatest gift I’ve been given is being naive, because I don’t know what I can’t do. And when you don’t know what you can’t do, you think you can do everything.’ – Kelsea Ballerini
‘This life that has been given to us as a gift, as such a precious gift. To really try to understand it, really try to recognize it, is the greatest meditation. Through the media of this Knowledge we can tap into our inner sources that are so beautiful.’ – Prem Rawat
‘To me, life is a gift, and it’s a blessing to just be alive. And each person should learn what a gift it is to be alive no matter how tough things get.’ – Tony Bennett
‘There is no better gift a society can give children than the opportunity to grow up safe and free – the chance to pursue whatever dreams they may have.’ – John Roberts
‘My mind is always racing, and always going and always working, and it’s a gift and a curse.’ – Sean Combs
‘I believe life is a gift, and I want to live it productively. I am not into this numbers game.’ – Ajith Kumar
‘God gives us a gift, but then that gift has to be worked.’ – Paulo Dybala
‘Every day is a gift from God. Learn to focus on the Giver and enjoy the gift!’ – Joyce Meyer
‘I was blessed with a gift. It’s a gift and a curse. It never ends.’ – Dan Fogelberg
‘The ground we walk on, the plants and creatures, the clouds above constantly dissolving into new formations – each gift of nature possessing its own radiant energy, bound together by cosmic harmony.’ – Ruth Bernhard
‘I think the first step is to understand that forgiveness does not exonerate the perpetrator. Forgiveness liberates the victim. It’s a gift you give yourself.’ – T. D. Jakes
‘You take away all the other luxuries in life, and if you can make someone smile and laugh, you have given the most special gift: happiness.’ – Brad Garrett
‘When God loves a creature he wants the creature to know the highest happiness and the deepest misery He wants him to know all that being alive can bring. That is his best gift. There is no happiness save in understanding the whole.’ – Thornton Wilder
‘I think the word ‘social entrepreneur’ is a really good description of what I am. What that means me to is that you have the entrepreneurial gift and spirit to create something out of nothing.’ – Blake Mycoskie
‘I most certainly believe that it is the gift of God that I am what I am. And so I dwell amongst barbarians, a proselyte and an exile, for the love of God.’ – Saint Patrick
‘It doesn’t matter what age you are. You can look sexy and feel great, and that doesn’t have to be a gift only for the young. It can be a gift for any age, even the old, whatever that is nowadays.’ – Carol Alt
‘My humor is my creativity, and my skepticism is a gift.’ – Josh Tillman
‘Your life story is a gift, and it should be treated as such.’ – Emily V. Gordon
‘I’m cursed with the gift of foresight.’ – Morrissey
‘Sometimes poverty is the greatest gift you can ever be given. Sometimes loss is the key that leads you to gain.’ – Suze Orman
‘In the scriptures, ‘peace’ means either freedom from strife, contention, conflict, or war, or an inner calm and comfort born of the Spirit that is a gift of God to all of his children, an assurance and serenity within a person’s heart.’ – Joseph B. Wirthlin
‘God’s most lordly gift to man is decency of mind.’ – Aeschylus
‘Playing drums is how I communicate. It’s how I speak to people. That’s my God-given gift.’ – Joey Jordison
‘Music is the art of the prophets and the gift of God.’ – Martin Luther
‘Valor is a gift. Those having it never know for sure whether they have it till the test comes. And those having it in one test never know for sure if they will have it when the next test comes.’ – Carl Sandburg
‘I know a man who doesn’t pay to have his trash taken out. How does he get rid of his trash? He gift wraps it, and puts in into an unlocked car.’ – Henny Youngman
‘Godly sorrow is a gift of the Spirit. It is a deep realization that our actions have offended our Father and our God. It is the sharp and keen awareness that our behavior caused the Savior, He who knew no sin, even the greatest of all, to endure agony and suffering.’ – Ezra Taft Benson
‘For my confirmation, I didn’t get a watch and my first pair of long pants, like most Lutheran boys. I got a telescope. My mother thought it would make the best gift.’ – Wernher von Braun
‘Let’s choose today to quench our thirst for the ‘good life’ we thinks others lead by acknowledging the good that already exists in our lives. We can then offer the universe the gift of our grateful hearts.’ – Sarah Ban Breathnach
‘To express your emotions, you have to be very loose and receptive. The unconscious will come to you if you have that gift that artists have. I only know if I’m inspired by the results.’ – Louise Bourgeois
‘As motherhood is the greatest and most natural God-given gift for women for posterity, it would seem that the birth and rearing of children, in the way which to us seems most ideal, would be the most satisfying and the most rewarding career for a woman.’ – Rose Kennedy
‘We need to teach the next generation of children from day one that they are responsible for their lives. Mankind’s greatest gift, also its greatest curse, is that we have free choice. We can make our choices built from love or from fear.’ – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
‘People who have given us their complete confidence believe that they have a right to ours. The inference is false, a gift confers no rights.’ – Friedrich Nietzsche
‘Everybody has a job to do. There are people in Iraq on both sides of this war who do what they do for religious reasons, and they feel with God on their side. Some people are good at annihilating people. Maybe that’s their gift.’ – Denzel Washington
‘You speak things into existence, but there’s a gift and a curse with that. You got to be careful what you say.’ – Damon Dash
‘It is not from your own goods that you give to the beggar; it is a portion of his own that you are restoring to him. The Earth belongs to all. So you are paying back a debt and think you are making a gift to which you are not bound.’ – Saint Ambrose
‘My grandmother lived to 104 years old, and part of her success was she woke up every morning to a brand new day. She said every morning is a new gift. Her favorite hobby was collecting birthdays.’ – George Takei
‘My dad has given me the best gift anyone has ever given me. He gave me wings to fly.’ – Adria Arjona
‘A gift, with a kind countenance, is a double present.’ – Thomas Fuller
‘Among my dad’s generation, when you gave another man a pocketknife as a gift, it was a show of respect. I’ll still give someone the knife out of my pocket.’ – Chris Stapleton
‘Talent is a gift which God has given us secretly, and which we reveal without perceiving it.’ – Montesquieu
‘Beauty is an outward gift which is seldom despised, except by those to whom it has been refused.’ – Edward Gibbon
‘God answers sharp and sudden on some prayers, And thrusts the thing we have prayed for in our face, A gauntlet with a gift in it.’ – Elizabeth Barrett Browning
‘Beauty is the lover’s gift.’ – William Congreve
‘Every time you dive, you hope you’ll see something new – some new species. Sometimes the ocean gives you a gift, sometimes it doesn’t.’ – James Cameron
‘I would argue that nothing gives life more purpose than the realization that every moment of consciousness is a precious and fragile gift.’ – Steven Pinker
‘The gift of broadcasting is, without question, the lowest human capacity to which any man could attain.’ – Harold Nicolson
‘Though everything else may appear shallow and repulsive, even the smallest task in music is so absorbing, and carries us so far away from town, country, earth, and all worldly things, that it is truly a blessed gift of God.’ – Felix Mendelssohn
‘I think relationships are work, but love is a gift.’ – Anne Hathaway
‘I love writing songs. I love doing my radio show and talking to the fans and listening to what they have to say, but there’s a certain responsibility that comes along with being given the gift of music. I take that seriously, but at the same time I try to use it to do something that makes a difference in a positive way.’ – Randy Owen
‘I have a friend – not a dwarf – who’s an alchemist of sorts. He concocted a men’s cologne… He gave me a bottle as a gift. I was thinking we should totally put this on the market. You know how Jessica Simpson and Beyonce have signature perfumes and make a mint? I’m thinking this cologne could be my ticket to fortune.’ – Peter Dinklage
‘If you work hard at anything, you’re going to experience some success. And the greatest gift is when you have something you really love to do and you can integrate that into your work life. I feel like it’s a real privilege that I get to do something that is good for my community and good for the world. But it’s also pleasurable for me.’ – Robert Kennedy, Jr.
‘Faith is different from proof; the latter is human, the former is a Gift from God.’ – Blaise Pascal
‘I didn’t get interested in music. It was a gift from God.’ – Nina Simone
‘I get unhappy doing things that I’m not passionate about. Because I feel like I’m squandering this incredible gift I’ve been given to finance films. As soon as my name alone was enough to make this happen, I vowed to myself that I was going to work with directors who were changing cinema, doing something important, you know?’ – Leonardo DiCaprio
‘Christmas is the perfect time to celebrate the love of God and family and to create memories that will last forever. Jesus is God’s perfect, indescribable gift. The amazing thing is that not only are we able to receive this gift, but we are able to share it with others on Christmas and every other day of the year.’ – Joel Osteen
‘Some people are born good-looking. Some have the gift of gab. And some are lucky enough to be born smarter than the rest of us. Whether we like it or not, Mother Nature does not dole these characteristics out evenly.’ – Simon Sinek
‘Remember to look at your glass half full and not half empty. A lot of my strength comes from God. God has given me a gift – the gift of life – and it’s amazing that I live each day.’ – Mattie Stepanek
‘Indeed, the hereditary gift of prophecy will go to the grave with me.’ – Nostradamus
‘You can take lessons to become almost anything: flying lessons, piano lessons, skydiving lessons, acting lessons, race car driving lessons, singing lessons. But there’s no class for comedy. You have to be born with it. God has to give you this gift.’ – Steve Harvey
‘Wisdom is a gift but has nothing to do with age. That was probably the case with me.’ – Ruby Bridges
‘I believe the gift of acting is a gift from God, my oath to God, and I want to make sure on a daily basis that it is honed and deeply spiritual… I want to believe that the audience believes that my acting comes from this special place.’ – Louis Gossett, Jr.
‘I am a writer. I suppose I think that the highest gift that man has is art, and I am audacious enough to think of myself as an artist – that there is both joy and beauty and illumination and communion between people to be achieved through the dissection of personality.’ – Lorraine Hansberry
‘I’m constantly learning, and that is the greatest gift of life in my opinion – to always be learning and growing.’ – Kristin Chenoweth
‘I look upon life as a gift from God. I did nothing to earn it. Now that the time is coming to give it back, I have no right to complain.’ – Joyce Cary
‘I think architecture has to be a gift.’ – Jean Nouvel
‘Melodic invention is one of the surest signs of a divine gift.’ – Gustav Mahler
‘Failure is a gift and it becomes a bridge to the next thing, a better thing, the thing that works.’ – Kendra Scott
‘The liberty of the individual is no gift of civilization. It was greatest before there was any civilization.’ – Sigmund Freud
‘Art is elemental. Reason alone as it’s expressed in the sciences can’t be man’s complete answer to reality, and it can’t express everything that man can, wants to, and has to express. I think God built this into man. Art along with science is the highest gift God has given him.’ – Pope Benedict XVI
‘Forgiveness isn’t just a blessing you deliver to another human being. Forgiveness is also a gift you give yourself.’ – Robin S. Sharma
‘I’m not religious, but I believe that what I have is a gift, and I respect it and live up to it.’ – Sugar Ray Leonard
‘As my parents taught me, by both words and deeds, a life of public services is as much a gift to the person who serves as it is to those he’s serving.’ – Merrick Garland
‘If you can get really good at destroying your own wrong ideas, that is a great gift.’ – Charlie Munger
‘Life is the first gift, love is the second, and understanding the third.’ – Marge Piercy
‘You can do anything you think you can. This knowledge is literally the gift of the gods, for through it you can solve every human problem. It should make of you an incurable optimist. It is the open door.’ – Robert Collier
‘When man possesses a good, sound body that does not overpower him nor disturb the equilibrium in him, he possesses a divine gift. In short, a good constitution facilitates the rule of the soul over the body, but it is not impossible to conquer a bad constitution by training.’ – Maimonides
‘Here’s what I tell anybody and this is what I believe. The greatest gift we have is the gift of life. We understand that. That comes from our Creator. We’re given a body. Now you may not like it, but you can maximize that body the best it can be maximized.’ – Mike Ditka
‘I’ve got some gift for languages. You follow your gift. But Latin’s not easy.’ – Ursula K. Le Guin
‘A period film is a gift for a cinematographer.’ – Rachel Morrison
‘If I were put into a college lecture hall right now and told to pay attention for 45 minutes, it would be physically impossible for me to do. I’m one of those people who believe that ADD is a gift. It’s tough to manage, but if you can harness it you can do great things.’ – Jeff Kinney
‘When you’re a ranchera singer, you represent your country. It’s a God-given gift.’ – Vicente Fernandez
‘I would like to thank my parents in Vergaio, a little village in Italy. They gave me the biggest gift: poverty.’ – Roberto Benigni
‘He was one of those men who possess almost every gift, except the gift of the power to use them.’ – Charles Kingsley
‘The beauty of Test cricket is all about playing an opponent in their backyard or defending home turf under challenging conditions over five days – dominating each session, dominating each day, picking 20 wickets to win a contest. That’s historically been cricket’s most fascinating gift.’ – Ravi Shastri
‘When I was doing theater, I was very successful at believing that I was great, God’s gift to the theater.’ – Morgan Freeman
‘My father, Leo Henry Brown, really was talented – he could write. He had a gift, and he had a great, sly humor.’ – Angie Dickinson
‘Mankind must remember that peace is not God’s gift to his creatures; peace is our gift to each other.’ – Elie Wiesel
‘I was given such a great gift. It’s a miracle that never stops amazing me and reminding me to give thanks, every day. Having a wife and daughter gives me a lot more purpose. I was much more selfish before, but now I think about what kind of role model I’ll be. I just want to be a better man.’ – Jake Owen
‘For me, a diva is like the great opera singer, the great film star – out of reach, in their own world, with a real gift for invention: attention-demanding performance artists with a flamboyant, compelling sense of their own importance so special and inimitable it verges on the alien.’ – Grace Jones
‘Every child is a gift of Allah, and every child in Pakistan, to me, is like my own child, so I will do my best to take the message to every doorstep in Pakistan. Reaching every child, every time with the polio vaccine is not only necessary, but it is our duty. This disease can’t deter us; we will defeat it.’ – Shahid Afridi
‘Our mothers give us so many gifts. They give us the precious gift of life, of course, but they also leave treasured lessons that can guide us along our journeys even when they are no longer with us.’ – Maria Shriver
‘We all face storms in life. Some are more difficult than others, but we all go through trials and tribulation. That’s why we have the gift of faith.’ – Joyce Meyer
‘The greatest gift God has given me is the capacity of love for people. I have so many faults, but caring about people is not one of them.’ – Barbara Mandrell
‘God gives us intelligence to uncover the wonders of nature. Without the gift, nothing is possible.’ – James Clavell
‘Beauty is ever to the lonely mind a shadow fleeting; she is never plain. She is a visitor who leaves behind the gift of grief, the souvenir of pain.’ – Christopher Morley
‘Do you know what a skin walker is? It’s a thing in Indian mythology. There are certain people born with this gift, and they’re able to actually get inside you and mess with your feelings and with your mind. And if a skin walker chooses to get a hold of you, there’s not much you can do.’ – Robbie Robertson
‘To get a name can happen but to few; it is one of the few things that cannot be brought. It is the free gift of mankind, which must be deserved before it will be granted, and is at last unwillingly bestowed.’ – Samuel Johnson
‘Central Park is the most amazing gift. It’s incredible. You find new spots, new people, new friends for the dogs.’ – Diana Taylor
‘First and foremost, I think it’s just such an incredible gift as an actor when you’re presented with a notion of essentially playing two characters in one – which is kind of how I approached Timmy in this version of The Craft.” – Nicholas Galitzine
‘It’s always been a gift with me, hearing music the way I do. I don’t know where it comes from, it’s just there and I don’t question it.’ – Miles Davis
‘For whatever reason, not all people are born with the particular gift of being able to express ourselves through music. And, believe me, it is a gift.’ – Billy Joel
‘The greatest gift of all time is that you can make creation infectious because people spend less time being negative… If you log all the time with negativity in the while world, I wonder how much better the world would be if people sat down and did something positive. It spirals.’ – Skrillex
‘I used to watch my father play the guitar and sing when I was a little boy. By the time I was 11, I knew what I wanted to do. My father really couldn’t afford to spend $12 for a guitar for me, but he did. It was like an ordinary family spending $500 for a kid’s gift.’ – Trini Lopez
‘I always thought every day was a gift, but now I am looking for where to send the thank you note.’ – Randy Pausch
‘What I see in the Bible, especially in the book of Psalms, which is a book of gratitude for the created world, is a recognition that all good things on Earth are God’s, every good gift is from above. They are good if we recognize where they came from and if we treat them the way the Designer intended them to be treated.’ – Philip Yancey
‘The rudest possible gift is a gift card. It means you think the person is stupid and has no interests. The only good gift card is Bitcoin. You practically have to be a hacker to know about it.’ – John Waters
‘When you lose something in your life, stop thinking it’s a loss for you… it is a gift you have been given so you can get on the right path to where you are meant to go, not to where you think you should have gone.’ – Suze Orman
‘We are all musicians, and we’re not really good musicians. But we have this gracious gift that has been bestowed on us, and we don’t want to disappoint. So I guess our biggest fear would be, just giving up.’ – Justin Chancellor
‘The wisdom acquired with the passage of time is a useless gift unless you share it.’ – Esther Williams
‘Revelation is communication from God to His children on the earth and one of the great blessings associated with the gift and constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.’ – David A. Bednar
‘The most important thing in anyone’s life is to be giving something. The quality I can give is fun and joy and happiness. This is my gift.’ – Ginger Rogers
‘My grandfather, a devout Christian, had the gift of healing.’ – Richard Paul Evans
‘As soon as I discovered PlayStation, I was throwing hints here and there to my dad – cutting out the clipping of a video game, cutting out the clippings of the PlayStation, leaving it on his dresser. I remember on Christmas morning, I unwrapped my gift, and sure enough, it was the PS2. I’ve been a PlayStation guy ever since.’ – Paul George
‘I think it better that in times like these a poet’s mouth be silent, for in truth we have no gift to set a statesman right.’ – William Butler Yeats
‘There is no greater gift than time.’ – Jonathan Safran Foer
‘A gift of truth is the gift of love.’ – David Icke
‘The two things in the world we all share in this world are laughter and pain. We’ve all got problems. The levels of those problems vary, but we’ve all got problems. When you can take things that are painful and make them funny, that’s a gift – to you and your audience.’ – Kevin Hart
‘Life is an incurable disease leading to death, but it’s also an unrequested gift, which, if we can manage to keep giving it away to others, can keep giving back everything to us.’ – Stephen Hough
‘I’ve heard people say that God is the gift of desperation, and there’s a lot to be said for having really reached a bottom where you’ve run out of any more good ideas or plans for everybody else’s behavior; or how to save and fix and rescue; or just get out of a huge mess, possibly of your own creation.’ – Anne Lamott
‘My mother is an amazing woman. Not only did she manage the entire household, she noticed a gift in each of her kids and instilled confidence in all of us that that gift would take us wherever we wanted to go.’ – Barbara Corcoran
‘Working, for me, is like a gift.’ – Millie Bobby Brown
‘The gift that has been given to me says much about our capacity for great compassion and generosity, and I hope it sends an inspiring message to others about the importance of organ donation.’ – Steven Cojocaru
‘Had I not come out with an inspirational CD, you perhaps would have never known that I feel like I feel, that all songs, all the music I’ve ever done is a gift from God.’ – Smokey Robinson
‘I knew I was blessed with a gift of having both parents.’ – Kendrick Lamar
‘Reverie is not a mind vacuum. It is rather the gift of an hour which knows the plenitude of the soul.’ – Gaston Bachelard
‘Love is always bestowed as a gift – freely, willingly and without expectation. We don’t love to be loved; we love to love.’ – Leo Buscaglia
‘God our Lord would have us look to the Giver and love Him more than His gift, keeping Him always before our eyes, in our hearts, and in our thoughts.’ – Saint Ignatius
‘I do think children come in wired a certain way. Why else would I be filled with hope and optimism? You just could not keep me down for very long. You can call it grace or a gift from God, but I do think I came in with it.’ – Florence Henderson
‘As peacemakers, we must resist all the powers of war and destruction and proclaim that peace is the divine gift offered to all who affirm life. Resistance means saying ‘No’ to all the forces of death, wherever they may be.’ – Henri Nouwen
‘Knowing is the most profound kind of love, giving someone the gift of knowledge about yourself.’ – Marsha Norman
‘All good fortune is a gift of the gods, and you don’t win the favor of the ancient gods by being good, but by being bold.’ – Anita Brookner
‘I consider my girls the greatest gift from God in life. And I also love the career that I have built, lost and rebuilt. But the highs and lows of my career would not have been as exciting or manageable to me if I didn’t have children and a partner for life with whom to share it all.’ – Mika Brzezinski
‘I’ve learnt that the muse is like an angry girlfriend. If she comes knocking you better be home because if you’re not, she doesn’t leave a note saying pick up after 3 P. M. from the post office. The gift she had is gone forever.’ – Anh Do
‘I wish with all my heart that you may be the most lovable prince in the world, and I bestow my gift on you as much as I am able.’ – Charles Perrault
‘Every great person is always being helped by everybody; for their gift is to get good out of all things and all persons.’ – John Ruskin
‘Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift.’ – Albert Einstein
‘I never considered myself a writer. I’m a teacher. In a way, I feel kind of… kind of guilty for all the people who are writers who hope to be on the best-seller list someday, who live for that and don’t get it, and it came to me as a kind of free gift, like God coming to Abraham and announcing, ‘I’ve chosen you!” – Allan Bloom
‘The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.’ – Elizabeth Hardwick
‘Give whatever you are doing and whoever you are with the gift of your attention.’ – Jim Rohn
‘Liberty, as it is conceived by current opinion, has nothing inherent about it; it is a sort of gift or trust bestowed on the individual by the state pending good behavior.’ – Mary McCarthy
‘A good education is the most important gift we can give our young people.’ – Nicola Sturgeon
‘A lot of the players are not involved with any NHL team, so to play and travel around with the Oldtimers’ it’s a kind of gift that the players really appreciate.’ – Guy Lafleur
‘Some public officials are blessed – you can’t acquire this, but you are blessed with the gift of empathy, being able to empathize with those who are suffering.’ – Bob Casey, Jr.
‘The beautiful gift of my husband is that he saw me the way I’ve always wanted to be seen and there’s something really powerful to that. When you find true love I really believe that that’s what it is at its core.’ – Jeremiah Brent
‘Let every mother realize that she has no greater blessing than the children who have come to her as a gift from the Almighty; that she has no greater mission than to rear them in light and truth, in understanding and love.’ – Gordon B. Hinckley
‘I believe that friendship is life’s most precious and amazing gift and an incredibly powerful force.’ – Ananya Birla
‘I really don’t mind being a comedian because I get the chance to make people laugh and I think that’s truly a gift.’ – Ali
‘Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself.’ – Suzanne Somers
‘Talent is a gift that brings with it an obligation to serve the world, and not ourselves, for it is not of our making.’ – Jose Marti
‘He is my son and very dear to me, and that’s the only emotion I had for him from day one. I don’t know any other way to live this relationship. I also have a lovely daughter-in-law, who is such a beautiful person and the best thing in the world is my granddaughter Misha. She is the most precious gift I have got from Shahid.’ – Supriya Pathak
‘To find beauty in the most grotesque things is a gift.’ – Seph Lawless
‘I may be too craving of that rich gift, the power of sharing other minds. I have drunk deeply, long, and oh! how blissfully at this fountain in a foreign clime. Hearts met hearts, minds joined with minds; and what were the secondary trials of pain to the enfeebled, suffering body when daily was administered the soul’s medicine and food!’ – Dorothea Dix
‘The single overriding objective in wellness is creating constant personal renewal where we recognize and act on the truth that each day is a miraculous gift, and our job is to untie the ribbons. That’s the Law of Esprit: living life with joy.’ – Greg Anderson
‘Make pumpkin bread as the default gift for everyone. It is cheap, it is beloved, it is carbs.’ – Karen Bender
‘I’ve always known I was gifted, which is not the easiest thing in the world for a person to know, because you’re not responsible for your gift, only for what you do with it.’ – Hazel Scott
‘Children are a wonderful gift. They have an extraordinary capacity to see into the heart of things and to expose sham and humbug for what they are.’ – Desmond Tutu
‘I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah.’ – William Tecumseh Sherman
‘My daughter is the biggest gift; I’ve said it so many times and it sounds like a cliche, but the thing about being a parent is when you think you’ve cracked it, and you’re on top of your game, they change again and you have to catch up and adjust. I feel such a responsibility to instill good values in her, to be polite, to have discipline.’ – Geri Halliwell
‘Love is so unconditional; love liberates; love is the reason why I do what I do, and so I think it is the greatest gift we have.’ – BeBe Winans
‘The sweetest feeling you can have in this world is to feel the hand of the Lord upon your shoulder. In my patriarchal blessing as a boy, I was promised that I would have the gift of discernment. I have to acknowledge that such a declaration has been abundantly fulfilled in my life.’ – Thomas S. Monson
‘Marriage is an act of will that signifies and involves a mutual gift, which unites the spouses and binds them to their eventual souls, with whom they make up a sole family – a domestic church.’ – Pope John Paul II
‘The deepest gift you can learn in life is about self-love, and that’s not going to happen overnight.’ – Rumer Willis
‘Singing has been a cherished gift, and my inability to sing has been a devastating blow.’ – Julie Andrews
‘We should know that faith is a gift of God, and that it may not be given to men, except it be graciously. Thus, indeed, all the good which we have is of God; and accordingly, when God rewardeth a good work of man, he crowneth his own gift.’ – John Wycliffe
‘I’ve got two Rolexes that I’m very proud of – a gold Presidential that was a gift and a white gold one I gifted myself. I’m trying to step my game up and get a few more of those.’ – J. Cole
‘The Beatles created something that never trailed off. What a gift that was to their fans. If you’re into the Beatles, you loved them from beginning to end.’ – Jerry Seinfeld
‘I’ve had the honor and the pleasure and gift of having known Elizabeth Taylor for a number of years. You know, you sit down with her, she slings hash, she sits there and cusses like a sailor, and she’s hilarious.’ – Johnny Depp
‘I would never look a gift horse in the mouth. I’ve had some lovely homemade earrings and, recently, a wall hanging made in the style of Georges Seurat.’ – Rebecca Stead
‘I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state. What I am grateful for is the gift of intelligence, and for life, love, wonder, and laughter. You can’t say it wasn’t interesting. My lifetime’s memories are what I have brought home from the trip.’ – Roger Ebert
‘Even when I was an engineer, I was a comic on my job. At birthday and holiday parties, I was the one scheduling and emceeing. If you work on your gift, and you’re good, it will shine through.’ – Loni Love
‘In time, we shall be in a position to bestow on South Africa the greatest possible gift – a more human face.’ – Steven Biko
‘When you’ve been to that dark place and you come out of that, every day is a gift.’ – Tabitha Brown
‘Conceit is God’s gift to little men.’ – Bruce Barton
‘That’s a big gift when people say to you that a song helped them or brought them to some place in their life where they needed to be.’ – Lenny Kravitz
‘To be poor does not mean you lack the means to extend charity to another. You may lack money or food, but you have the gift of friendship to overwhelm the loneliness that grips the lives of so many.’ – Stanley Hauerwas
‘There’s no gift more classic and more beautiful than roses.’ – La La Anthony
‘I could never say that I regret being given the gift of experience and love.’ – August Alsina
‘I feel I’ve been blessed with a gift of creativity and composition. That’s why I’ve been able to keep going.’ – Robin Trower
‘Each day offers us the gift of being a special occasion if we can simply learn that as well as giving, it is blessed to receive with grace and a grateful heart.’ – Sarah Ban Breathnach
‘To be honest, there is a special gift for doing voice-overs, and the people who did the voices in the ‘SpongeBob’ cast are excellent at cartoon voice-overs, and they bring something extra to the reads.’ – Stephen Hillenburg
‘Intuition is truly a feminine quality, but women should not mistake rash conclusions for this gift.’ – Minna Antrim
‘The people of the United States don’t recognize it, but the oil industry has given the greatest gift to the people of the nation, and that gift is the low cost of energy. Bottom line is this enables the country to be very competitive manufacturing-wise and in the world economy.’ – Ray Lee Hunt
‘If you can help guide somebody through a challenging moment because you’ve been there, that ends up becoming a great gift.’ – Christian Slater
‘Reinvention is the biggest gift I’ve been given. I’ve gone from graffiti artist to jewellery maker, urban musician to conductor.’ – Goldie
‘Given the choice, children who don’t want for anything will not save… We have an obligation as parents to give our children what they need. What they want we can give them as a special gift, or they can save their money for it.’ – Barbara Coloroso
‘Too many people are buying gifts for themselves when they pick out a gift for a friend.’ – Phoebe Cates
‘For the will and not the gift makes the giver.’ – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
‘Estate planning is an important and everlasting gift you can give your family. And setting up a smooth inheritance isn’t as hard as you might think.’ – Suze Orman
‘No one should ever say that it was my ignorance if I did or showed forth anything however small according to God’s good pleasure; but let this be your conclusion and let it so be thought, that – as is the perfect truth – it was the gift of God.’ – Saint Patrick
‘I was a shy kid, but somehow I knew I would make it as a performer. I’d always be telling my mum that I was going to be a famous singer. In my school yearbooks I would write, ‘Remember me when I’m famous.’ I knew I had a gift.’ – Nicole Scherzinger
‘A gift in season is a double favor to the needy.’ – Publilius Syrus
‘What law, what reason can deny that gift so sweet, so natural that God has given a stream, a fish, a beast, a bird?’ – Pedro Calderon de la Barca
‘One of the marks of a gift is to have the courage of it.’ – Katherine Anne Porter
‘It is often said that the earth belongs to the race, as if raw land was a boon, or gift.’ – William Graham Sumner
‘To be free from evil thoughts is God’s best gift.’ – Aeschylus
‘My faith inspires me so much. It is the very reason that I run. I feel that my running is completely a gift from God and it is my responsibility to use it to glorify him.’ – Allyson Felix
‘I write because writing is the gift God has given me to help people in the world.’ – Anne Lamott
‘Our Constitution exists to secure individual freedom, the essential condition of human flourishing. Liberty is not provided by government; liberty preexists government. It’s our natural birthright, not a gift from the sovereign. Our founders upended things and divided power to enshrine a promise, not a process.’ – Don Willett
‘I know it is a somewhat delicate matter to refuse a gift, but in this case the statue is so atrocious that every endeavour should be made to keep it out of the church.’ – Giles Gilbert Scott
‘Making people laugh is the greatest gift you can give, so I’m never going to stop that.’ – Jay Pharoah
‘A chaplain’s biggest gift is to be present and just listen.’ – Diane Johnson
‘We Marines believe that God gave America the greatest gift He could bestow to man while he lived on this earth -freedom. We also believe He gave us another gift nearly as precious – our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and Marines – to safeguard that gift and guarantee no force on this earth can ever steal it away.’ – John F. Kelly
‘I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to bring Peter Morgan’s Princess Elizabeth to life; she is a gift of a role and a challenge I am so grateful for – a young woman trying to navigate a path through an extraordinary situation.’ – Claire Foy
‘A pianist practices for up to 10 hours a day. Then, when he takes to the stage, you see the harmony. Having such an elegant touch is a natural gift, but it’s the daily training which allows you to perform that miracle and create feeling, even if you were born tone-deaf.’ – Gianfranco Zola
‘Golf has been such a gift in my life, and I’ve enjoyed it so much and enjoyed lots of wonderful times on the golf course with my husband first, and then I got to play in all these celebrity tournaments. I’m often the only female celebrity in the tournament, hence the term ‘Token Chick.’ So it’s been such a great, great gift in my life.’ – Cheryl Ladd
‘I have given up the idea that there is an opposition-free church out there. But I have gained something else – an appreciation for the gift of opposition. When it comes, I learn something about my motives. When it comes, I get to test my courage.’ – John Ortberg
‘I feel like before I came to the planet I asked God for the gift of music. I didn’t want to come here without the gift of music and God granted it to me.’ – Narada Michael Walden
‘I’m the seventh child among eight siblings and have always had a gift for art.’ – Brahmanandam
‘Beauty is an outward gift, which is seldom despised, except by those to whom it has been refused.’ – Ralph Waldo Emerson
‘Free soloing is almost as old as climbing itself, with roots in the 19th century. Climbers are continuing to push the boundaries. There are certainly better technical climbers than me. But if I have a particular gift, it’s a mental one – the ability to keep it together where others might freak out.’ – Alex Honnold
‘I thank God for the gift of people’s love.’ – J. Jayalalithaa
‘We have the means to change lives for the better, and that’s a gift I don’t take for granted.’ – Kendra Scott
‘I always tell people I’m grateful for my cancer diagnosis because it was the greatest gift because it completely changed my life. I was able to stop and let my whole life and world just crash over me like a wave. And I stood there and went, ‘Wow.’ And for the first time, I stopped everything. I had to.’ – Melissa Etheridge
‘I’m going to take this God-given gift of being funny, and I’m going to spread it out like peanut butter on everything I do.’ – Steve Harvey
‘Being a singer is a natural gift. It means I’m using to the highest degree possible the gift that God gave me to use. I’m happy with that.’ – Aretha Franklin
‘The presence of passion within you is the greatest gift you can receive. Treat it as a miracle.’ – Wayne Dyer
‘The gift of loneliness is sometimes a radical vision of society or one’s people that has not previously been taken into account.’ – Alice Walker
‘I realised from a very early age that God gave me a gift, and that gift was to run, and I wanted to use it to the best of my ability.’ – Betty Cuthbert
‘God has blessed me with the gift of cheerfulness.’ – Deborah Raney
‘Reason is God’s crowning gift to man.’ – Sophocles
‘Health is a precious gift. You realise more and more as you get older just how precious a gift it is.’ – Judith Durham
‘Great masters neither want nor need your worship. Your greatest gift to them and yourself is to emulate their divinity by claiming it as your own.’ – Alan Cohen
‘You have to use your pain as your gift. If you’re able to take something really negative and repackage it as something positive, you’ve nailed it.’ – Julia Fox
‘A punishment to some, to some a gift, and to many a favor.’ – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
‘That’s a gift God’s given us: the ability to work together in collaborations.’ – Tracy Morgan
‘Reading is such a personal thing to me. I’d much rather give someone a gift certificate to a bookstore, and let that person choose his or her own books.’ – Erik Larson
‘I learned at an early age that I was given something special when I was born, and that was the gift of music.’ – Randy Bachman
‘If we’re not a good steward of what God gives us, he takes it away. I think that’s what happened. I wasn’t a good steward of the gift that he gave me in this line of work. I abused it, so he took it away.’ – Shawn Michaels
‘Freedom is such a gift.’ – Ryan Gosling
‘I believe that every one of us has a gift. And I believe that mine is the ability to take the complex and make it simple.’ – Robert Kiyosaki
‘Success should not make you think you are God’s gift to mankind. You should never forget that you are what you are because God chose you to be there.’ – Rakesh Jhunjhunwala
‘When a gift is difficult to give away, it becomes even more rare and precious, somehow gathering a part of the giver to the gift itself.’ – Cate Blanchett
‘I really appreciate the many neighbourhoods of Berkeley. There is still the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker. And it has the University of California, which is the greatest gift, to my mind, to be close to it. It keeps the place alive.’ – Alice Waters
‘I could have spent eight years doing anything, and at some level, it would have been fine. I could have focused on flowers. I could have focused on decor. I could have focused on entertainment. Because any First Lady, rightfully, gets to define her role. There’s no legislative authority; you’re not elected. And that’s a wonderful gift of freedom.’ – Michelle Obama
‘The one year the Lord took my greatest physical gift, he gave me the greatest gift you could have in children. So that was a real equalizer. And I would take that trade any day of the week.’ – Peyton Manning
‘The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach – waiting for a gift from the sea.’ – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
‘For humans, gift giving is a universal ritual laden with evolutionary implications.’ – Gad Saad
‘I know now what this meant, that the bison were the gift of a good spirit and were our strength, but we should lose them, and from the same good spirit we must find another strength.’ – Black Elk
‘God has placed within each of us an immeasurable, unique gift. It is our duty to live that out to the full and to encourage one another with gusto.’ – Merle Dandridge
‘Motherhood is a beautiful, wonderful gift… except when it’s not.’ – Rachel Hollis
‘I’ve got that Beethoven energy, that Stravinsky energy. And it’s all a gift from the Creator.’ – Wadada Leo Smith
‘I’ve titled this book ‘Eighty Is Not Enough’ not just for the obvious play on words, but as a way of expressing the single idea that has governed my entire life, that every moment of life is precious, that every step we take is an adventure, that every day on earth is a gift from God.’ – Dick Van Patten
‘God is not accustomed to refusing a good gift to those who ask for one. Since he is good, and especially to those who are faithful to him, let us hold fast to him with all our soul, our heart, our strength, and so enjoy his light and see his glory and possess the grace of supernatural joy.’ – Saint Ambrose
‘Beauty is an asset, just like physical prowess, charisma, brains or emotional intelligence. The key with any gift is in the way that you use it. It doesn’t define you as a person. Rather, it’s an asset to be used judiciously and with an understanding of how it is just a small part of who you are.’ – Dale Archer
‘You are on a soulful path that asks you to step into the greatest version of yourself. It is a sacred gift to shine your brightest light, not just in your moments of glory, but each day.’ – Debbie Ford
‘My goals have gone from being an all-star to just being able to play basketball. I always took for granted that I could play. Now I know what a gift it is.’ – Rebecca Lobo
‘I’ve always liked telling stories. That probably came from my dad, who definitely had the gift of gab and who wove a kind of personal folklore about his youth – stories full of adventure and ghosts and wild antics.’ – Cullen Bunn
‘I don’t care for the music when they’re talking bad about women because I think women are God’s greatest gift to the planet – I just like music.’ – B. B. King
‘The more you head into the maelstrom, the more vulnerable you are, of course. But it’s what you owe to whatever gift you have.’ – Ellen McLaughlin
‘That’s the gift that a mother can give, to make everyone feel like they are the special one.’ – Oprah Winfrey
‘Peace is our gift to each other.’ – Elie Wiesel
‘My daughter Stacia was born when I was 31, after I was divorced from David, and she was my gift to myself. She was just a joy because I didn’t have the stress of a male irritating me, and I vowed that I would make absolutely certain that between her and me there would be a clear line of communication at all times.’ – Angela Bowie
‘On Sept. 20, 2011, a year after I spoke with Rabanni, a couple of Taliban emissaries arrived at his Kabul fortress with a gift for his 71st birthday. It turned out not to be the truce offering they had claimed they were bringing: one of the Talibs had a bomb hidden in his turban.’ – Terry Glavin
‘Well, I think part of my gift, or if I have one, is that I love listening.’ – Eric Clapton
‘Putting is like wisdom – partly a natural gift and partly the accumulation of experience.’ – Arnold Palmer
‘Well, I have a Norwegian father who emigrated to America in the 1950s, and he still speaks with varying degrees of an accent. Over my lifetime my ear has been well-tuned to that accent. Any first generation kid has that wonderful gift from their parents.’ – Christopher Heyerdahl
‘I don’t want to be thought of as a survivor because you have to continue getting involved in difficult situations to show off that particular gift, and I’m not interested in doing that anymore.’ – Carrie Fisher
‘The gift of writing is to be self-forgetful, to get a surge of inner life or inner supply or unexpected sense of empowerment, to be afloat, to be out of yourself.’ – Seamus Heaney
‘If the country is going to be great, everybody has a gift, and I tell every child I meet, whether they have asked me or not, ‘You have greatness inside you, and your job is to figure out what that is, dig it out, and give it to the world. Because the world needs everything, every one of you.” – Henry Winkler
‘You know, I think the greatest gift in the world is a good employee, you know, or people who can do your work for you and do it well the way you’d like to have it done. And I’ve always been able to surround myself with really good people.’ – Kenny Rogers
‘The spirit of revelation is available to every person who receives by proper priesthood authority the saving ordinances of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost – and who is acting in faith to fulfill the priesthood injunction to ‘receive the Holy Ghost.” – David A. Bednar
‘I’m definitely aware that the physical appearance is a very temporary gift. I’m very thankful for the opportunities that I’ve been able to experience, but I keep it all in check and don’t let it consume me.’ – Marisa Miller
‘I feel like it’s a gift for any writer to be recognized like this.’ – Tracy K. Smith
‘My main trick is to work with amazing people. It’s a long and twisty journey, and you need people that really are amazing and have this rare gift of honesty and courage and really open up.’ – Lucy Walker
‘I have learned that track doesn’t define me. My faith defines me. I’m running because I have been blessed with a gift.’ – Allyson Felix
‘Verily, great grace may go with a little gift; and precious are all things that come from a friend.’ – Theocritus
‘Every gift which is given, even though it be small, is in reality great, if it is given with affection.’ – Pindar
‘Just to eat is a gift.’ – Ferran Adria
‘I wrote a book on grace, and grace is a free gift, but to receive the gift you have to have your hands open. And a lot of people don’t have their hands open, there’s something they’re grasping because there’s a lot of things to grasp in a prosperous country.’ – Philip Yancey
‘Fragrance is a very personal gift, and I think that’s why it makes a great Christmas gift. There’s a very distinct signature to it, so if you give it as a gift, I like to think that it’s from a person that thinks very highly of you.’ – Ryan Reynolds
‘Books! I dunno if I ever told you this, but books are the greatest gift one person can give another.’ – Bono
‘My mom and dad gave their kids the greatest gift of all – the gift of unconditional love. They cared deeply about who we would be, and much less about what we would do.’ – Mitt Romney
‘The highly functional infrastructure that surrounds us, particularly in the West, is a gift from our ancestors: the comparatively uncorrupt political and economic systems, the technology, the wealth, the lifespan, the freedom, the luxury, and the opportunity.’ – Jordan Peterson
‘Life is such a precious gift. Whatever life throws at us, if we could just learn to get through that day and hang on to the next, you never know what may come. It may get worse, but you never know.’ – Stephen Baldwin
‘Science is global. Einstein’s equation, E=mc2, has to reach everywhere. Science is a beautiful gift to humanity, we should not distort it. Science does not differentiate between multiple races.’ – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
‘I’m really in touch, whether it’s prayer or meditation… there are so many powers greater than me in the world. I’ve been blessed and lucky enough to have been given a gift to share with other people.’ – Lindsay Lohan
‘There is really only one way to deal with Misery. Accept her presence. Like most experiences in life, we must acknowledge the passage gracefully and let her move through our lives because she brings with her a hidden gift.’ – Sarah Ban Breathnach
‘I couldn’t have foreseen all the good things that have followed my mother’s death. The renewed energy, the surprising sweetness of grief. The tenderness I feel for strangers on walkers. The deeper love I have for my siblings and friends. The desire to play the mandolin. The gift of a visitation.’ – Mary Schmich
‘When I think back on my childhood and the things that happened to me, there were certain periods of time where I felt like I was being saved for something. I feel like I have a gift, and it would be a sin to waste it.’ – Lonnie Johnson
‘My voice is a gift. My talent is a gift. The life process is a gift. The opportunity for the journey is a gift.’ – Roy Orbison
‘It’s hard to grow up to be a good man and a good husband and a good father and at least at some level, my dad gave me a great gift to be able to grow up in the volleyball context and know that I was on a good path.’ – Karch Kiraly
‘In all ranks of life the human heart yearns for the beautiful; and the beautiful things that God makes are his gift to all alike.’ – Harriet Beecher Stowe
‘For millions of years, this world has been a great gift to nearly everything living on it, a planet whose atmosphere, temperature, air, water, seasons, and weather were precisely calibrated to allow us – the big us, including forests and oceans, species large and small – to flourish.’ – Rebecca Solnit
‘I was born with a great gift, and sometimes with that comes a destructive streak.’ – George Best
‘I am grateful, you know. I have to be grateful in the sense that I feel that what I have is a gift.’ – Derek Walcott
‘The limitless loving devotion to God, and the gift God makes of Himself to you, are the highest elevation of which the heart is capable; it is the highest degree of prayer. The souls that have reached this point are truly the heart of the Church.’ – Edith Stein
‘Listen to my advice; I have some experience. In a way, it is me being a teacher, which is what I wanted to be. I still feel I could go into teaching. What is teaching but passing on your knowledge to those who are at the beginning? Some people are born with that gift.’ – Grace Jones
‘Some of the best presents I get from my children for Mother’s Day are homemade. It makes me so happy to see the time and effort they put into each gift.’ – Rachel Hollis
‘Just remember that once you have life and you have the ability to execute a gift, just use that to the fullness of your ability.’ – Koffee
‘As precious as life itself is our heritage of individual freedom, for man’s free agency is a God-given gift.’ – David O. McKay
‘People ask if I feel pigeon-holed by always doing the same kind of humorous role. But my tool has always been humor because it’s the most entertaining way to put any ideology across, and it’s fun, and it’s positive, and it’s a healer. Laughter is God’s gift. I feel privileged to be able to do it.’ – Goldie Hawn
‘I have the gift of the gab, can talk and perform, but so can others. I can only attribute it to the fact that somebody up there likes me: it’s remote-controlled by God.’ – Fawad Khan
‘I think I have a gift, but I haven’t really opened that gift yet and given it to myself.’ – Billy Boyd
‘Just like I gave Jack Ma and Alibaba the luxury of staying private for longer, I am now giving Arm the gift of being private. My only message to them now is take my investment and let’s go, go, go.’ – Masayoshi Son
‘Honestly, I’ve been very blessed. Yes, I am cursed with this gift.’ – Wilmer Valderrama
‘Conversion is an offering of self, of love, and of loyalty we give to God in gratitude for the gift of testimony.’ – David A. Bednar
‘What gift has providence bestowed on man that is so dear to him as his children?’ – Marcus Tullius Cicero
‘Growing up, I was always enthralled by Ronnie Barker. He made my dad howl with laughter, which always intrigued me, and he had the rare gift of being as good a performer as he was a writer.’ – Dominic Holland
‘Each time somebody working for the Maison has a baby, the atelier creates miniature blouses-blanches, exactly like the ones we wear, with the child’s name embroidered across the front. That is our welcome-to-this-world gift.’ – Martin Margiela
‘President Obama certainly has an impressive gift for eloquence, and he has a global vision, as did my father. He doesn’t rattle easy, and he doesn’t harbor animosity, which were also characteristics my father had. But my father’s arena was far broader than politics.’ – Martin Luther King III
‘I am in the habit of looking not so much to the nature of a gift as to the spirit in which it is offered.’ – Robert Louis Stevenson
‘For me to be able to play football was a gift.’ – Carles Puyol
‘I lost my mom to breast cancer, and then I lost my father three years later. I thought, ‘What am I waiting for?’ Motherhood has been the greatest gift of my life.’ – Connie Britton
‘I think I was given a gift to wrestle. And I think when I came back, I had a much better appreciation of that. And I believe the way I went about doing it made me better at it. I didn’t identify myself with the job as I did so much in the ’90s. In the ’90s, I didn’t know who I was other than ‘the wrestler.” – Shawn Michaels
‘The good thing about being an actor, and the gift of being an actor, is that you are beautifully forced to see the world with different eyes.’ – Javier Bardem
‘I don’t have an extraordinary degree of self-confidence, but I know the gift I have been given from God, and I try to share it with as many people as possible.’ – Andrea Bocelli
‘I just like doing silly girly things. If I wrap a gift, I like to use specials ribbon and hot glue, silk flowers and things.’ – Barbara Mandrell
‘Such a gift might be easily taken back again.’ – Veronica Franco
‘Here I am, 11 years old, and these grown men have to give it everything they have to beat me. In one part of my life, I was standing toe-to-toe with grown men. It was a great feeling. My dad gave me that gift and volleyball gave me that gift.’ – Karch Kiraly
‘I had a normal life; we didn’t meet movie stars. We lived in Texas where you had rollerskates, and if you got a bicycle, that was a very big gift.’ – Debbie Reynolds
‘Chance happens to all, but to turn chance to account is the gift of few.’ – Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton
‘The storytelling gift is innate: one has it or one doesn’t. But style is at least partly a learned thing: one refines it by looking and listening and reading and practice – by work.’ – Donna Tartt
‘It is a strange trade that of advocacy. Your intellect, your highest heavenly gift is hung up in the shop window like a loaded pistol for sale.’ – Thomas Carlyle
‘If my life and music brings a smile or makes a difference in any individual’s life, then there is nothing beyond for me as a god’s gift.’ – Adnan Sami
‘Our glory is hidden in our pain, if we allow God to bring the gift of himself in our experience of it.’ – Henri Nouwen
‘I don’t want to get too philosophical, but in a sense, you’re given this gift, this sort of creative force in you, and I think everyone has it, and it’s completely unique to you. And you as a person have a little bit of a responsibility as its shepherd if you choose to incorporate that into your life.’ – Ze Frank
‘We all have our baggage, and I think the trick is not resisting it but accepting it, understanding that the worst experience has a valuable gift wrapped inside if you’re willing to receive it.’ – Jeannette Walls
‘The gift of giving and paying it forward has always been traits I consider to be invaluable.’ – Jon Taffer
‘There will be no misgiving, no shrinking back, no calculation of overpowering odds, no terror of possible consequences, if you frankly accept the gift which God offers you tomorrow.’ – Joseph Barber Lightfoot
‘May we treasure the divine gift of communication, and may we use it wisely to build and to assist others on this marvelous journey through mortality.’ – L. Lionel Kendrick
‘The ordinance of confirming a new member of the Church and bestowing the gift of the Holy Ghost is both simple and profound.’ – David A. Bednar
‘High School Musical has been a blessing and a gift.’ – Zac Efron
‘I’ve always had an aptitude for wrestling. I can’t explain it – it’s like a gift. To this day, I don’t always know how or why I do certain things.’ – Eddie Guerrero
‘My salvation was a free gift. I didn’t have to work for it and it’s better than any gold medal that I’ve ever won.’ – Betty Cuthbert
‘I have an extraordinary attention span. I manage to juggle two or three different ideas at the same time, and that’s probably – if I have a gift, that’s probably the best gift that’s given me.’ – Paul Newman
‘One reason people get divorced is that they run out of gift ideas.’ – Robert Byrne
‘Age has given me the gift of me; it just gave me what I was always longing for, which was to get to be the woman I’ve already dreamt of being. Which is somebody who can do rest and do hard work and be a really constant companion, a constant, tender-hearted wife to myself.’ – Anne Lamott
‘The Holy Ghost is manifested to men and women on the earth both as the power and as the gift of the Holy Ghost. The power can come upon a person before baptism; it is the convincing witness that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.’ – David A. Bednar
‘Benevolence alone will not make a teacher, nor will learning alone do it. The gift of teaching is a peculiar talent, and implies a need and a craving in the teacher himself.’ – John Jay Chapman
‘Teachers believe they have a gift for giving; it drives them with the same irrepressible drive that drives others to create a work of art or a market or a building.’ – A. Bartlett Giamatti
‘The violinist must possess the poet’s gift of piercing the protective hide which grows on propagandists, stockbrokers and slave traders, to penetrate the deeper truth which lies within.’ – Yehudi Menuhin
‘There are souls in this world which have the gift of finding joy everywhere and of leaving it behind them when they go.’ – Jean Paul
‘I have always been an admirer. I regard the gift of admiration as indispensable if one is to amount to something; I don’t know where I would be without it.’ – Francois de La Rochefoucauld
‘You do have to be fairly selfish when you have a gift. You cannot afford to let too many outside things get in the way.’ – Sarah Brightman
‘I was always told I was special. And I was also assured that I had a gift and a purpose.’ – Ashley Judd
‘I think it’s a gift to become a star, to become a celebrity.’ – Amy Smart
‘The heart of marriage is memories; and if the two of you happen to have the same ones and can savor your reruns, then your marriage is a gift from the gods.’ – Bill Cosby
‘Only when your consciousness is totally focused on the moment you are in can you receive whatever gift, lesson, or delight that moment has to offer.’ – Barbara De Angelis
‘I tell myself that God gave my children many gifts – spirit, beauty, intelligence, the capacity to make friends and to inspire respect. There was only one gift he held back – length of life.’ – Rose Kennedy
‘We inadvertently bombed the Chinese Embassy. But Clinton now is working very hard. He has sent a letter of apology to the Chinese. And, he’s also given them a gift certificate for future nuclear secrets.’ – David Letterman
‘The great gift of conversation lies less in displaying it ourselves than in drawing it out of others. He who leaves your company pleased with himself and his own cleverness is perfectly well pleased with you.’ – Jean de la Bruyere
‘As it is the characteristic of great wits to say much in few words, so small wits seem to have the gift of speaking much and saying nothing.’ – Francois de La Rochefoucauld
‘A truly appreciative child will break, lose, spoil, or fondle to death any really successful gift within a matter of minutes.’ – Russell Lynes
‘The greatest gift that Oxford gives her sons is, I truly believe, a genial irreverence toward learning, and from that irreverence love may spring.’ – Robertson Davies
‘Charity never humiliated him who profited from it, nor ever bound him by the chains of gratitude, since it was not to him but to God that the gift was made.’ – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
‘Nothing is so envied as genius, nothing so hopeless of attainment by labor alone. Though labor always accompanies the greatest genius, without the intellectual gift labor alone will do little.’ – B. R. Hayden
‘You fall into my arms. You are the good gift of destruction’s path, When life sickens more than disease. And boldness is the root of beauty. Which draws us together.’ – Boris Pasternak
‘To be able to feel the lightest touch really is a gift.’ – Christopher Reeve
‘I believe with all my heart that America remains ‘the great idea’ that inspires the world. It is a privilege to be born here. It is an honor to become a citizen here. It is a gift to raise your family here, to vote here, and to live here.’ – Arnold Schwarzenegger
‘September 11 impressed upon us that life is a precious gift. Every life has a purpose. And I think we all have a duty to devote at least a small portion of our daily lives to ensuring that neither America nor the world ever forgets September 11.’ – Bill Frist
‘Freedom is not a gift nor does it simply exist for us to have, but rather it is a sacred duty, and its blessed yield of hope is born from none other than the blood of the innocent.’ – Bryant H. McGill
‘There was a combination of not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, but also really not wanting to be stuck in Lord of the Rings for the rest of my life, and being desperate to kind of make sure that I could do something else with my life.’ – Sean Astin
‘I played Liddy Dole last year and met her as well. From the artful way she phrased it, I still don’t know if she had actually seen me play her. She made it sound like it was good, but that’s just a gift they have.’ – Ana Gasteyer
‘Come Christmas Eve, we usually go to my mom and dad’s. Everybody brings one gift and then we play that game when we all steal it from each other. Some are really cool, others are useful and some are a bit out there.’ – Amy Grant
‘I’m certain that it was an incredible gift for me to not only be friends with some of the greatest blues people who’ve ever lived, but to learn how they played, how they sang, how they lived their lives, ran their marriages, and talked to their kids.’ – Bonnie Raitt
‘For whatever a man has, is in reality only a gift.’ – Christoph Martin Wieland
‘Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends, for it is one of God’s best gifts. It involves many things, but above all, the power of going out of one’s self, and appreciating whatever is noble and loving in another.’ – Thomas Hughes
‘But somehow I feel like still it’s a gift, and I wonder, how can I give this gift to others? Just work hard, and do whatever I can do, to be that, and to return the love to the fans. I like to give them joy and smiles to them. Give back to them.’ – Bai Ling
‘I would so much like young people to have a sense of the gift that they are. Not many of them feel like that.’ – John Denver
‘We can learn from him that suffering and the gift of himself is an essential gift we need in our time.’ – Pope Benedict XVI
‘I see my job as an actor to be as good a channel as I can be. Acting is a gift, and I have respect for it.’ – Lili Taylor
‘Of what value is a mind when placed in the brain of a coward? If mind is a gift of God to man for his use, let him use it. A mind is not in use when doing no good.’ – Andrew Taylor Still
‘Liberty is the most precious gift we offer our citizens.’ – Tom Ridge
‘The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.’ – Julia Margaret Cameron
‘I wanna change the game in way where I’m not knocking nobody out of the way, not claiming to be the best at this or that, but just doing wonders with the gift I’ve been given.’ – Anthony Hamilton
‘Mammograms are really sort of a gift. You can either catch something early or count your lucky stars because nothing was discovered. Either way, you’re ahead of the game.’ – Charlotte Ross
‘Pray God in the bowels of his mercy to send you his Holy Spirit; for he hath given you his great gift of utterance, if it pleased him also to open the eyes of your heart.’ – Jane Grey
‘So I like to make music, and I like to share music. This is also a gift.’ – Cecilia Bartoli
‘I feel like it’s important to use this gift God gave me, my life and my career to do something to make the world a better place. It’s an easy thing for me to do.’ – Martina McBride
‘I’m unable to ignore the gift that God gave me, so I’m going to sing.’ – Lisa Nicole Carson
‘One of the prerogatives by which man is eminently distinguished from all other living beings inhabiting this globe of earth, consists in the gift of reason.’ – William Godwin
‘I have never received a flute from them for free and I would not accept such a gift from any manufacturer.’ – James Galway
‘The greatest gift is not being afraid to question.’ – Ruby Dee
‘Tomorrow is no man’s gift.’ – Gilbert Parker
‘The gift of song is just like… I think music is one of those true things in this world that is universal.’ – Charles King
‘You know when I really realized like ‘wow’ what a gift this is was when I sang at camp and a girl wrote me a letter and said the song that I sung kept her from committing suicide.’ – Charles King
‘I guess maybe another gift I have is a great work ethic.’ – Vince McMahon
‘I also believe my musical abilities are a true gift from God.’ – Wynonna Judd
‘Growing up Catholic has been a gift.’ – Moira Kelly
‘Songwriting is my gift from God.’ – Smokey Robinson
‘I think I was given a gift to play golf and to be mentally strong.’ – Karrie Webb
‘I consider everything I compose a gift.’ – Keith Emerson
‘If they want to talk about aliens and anything like that… that’s part of the gift God gave us. That’s what makes life exciting. We’re pretty stuck, you know. What gives flight to our life is our imagination.’ – Michael Moriarty
‘I had been living with dialysis for three years or so, and the new kidney felt like a reprieve, a new gift of life. I felt alive again and I guess that has had an effect on my use of colour.’ – Peter Wright
‘President Bush’s mercury rule is a gift to the big energy companies that helped put him in office.’ – Tom Allen
‘I’ve written many nonfiction books, but that’s a special gift.’ – Tim LaHaye
‘I have healed the sick by the power of the God. I have spoken with the gift of tongues.’ – Clayton M. Christensen
‘I thank the Creator of the universe to have discovered the discipline of music was the greatest gift that I could have been given, the possibility to be a student working in the world.’ – Anthony Braxton
‘I further value this gift as it gave me an opportunity to accept this distinguished honor in a country so devoted to this cause and whose history marks a wonderful chapter in world development.’ – Frank B. Kellogg
‘And writing I think is a gift that you have, the same as acting, in a way.’ – Matthew Vaughn
‘Some people are born with the necessary gift, and some work hard to build on the few gifts they have.’ – Peter Garrett
‘I’m not God’s gift to rockabilly. There’s great players out there, and some of them deserve a lot more than they’ve gotten.’ – Brian Setzer
‘To help the poor to a capacity for action and liberty is something essential for one’s own health as well as theirs: there is a needful gift they have to offer which cannot be offered so long as they are confined by poverty.’ – Rowan Williams
‘I talked with Brian Stokes Mitchell, who agreed with me that if you have a gift there is always stuff to do.’ – Estelle Parsons
‘He’s meant to be that classic Homer, Ulysses, Hercules – a character who goes out or has some gift of some kind. He goes on a journey of discovery and part of that is falling into darkness – the temptations of life.’ – Robert Redford
‘I love giving gifts and I love receiving them. I really like giving little kids extravagant gifts. You see their little faces light up and they get excited. If it’s a really good gift, I love receiving it, like jewels, small islands.’ – Gina Gershon
‘But most importantly, we can all be donors. It does not matter how old you are, your race, where you live; all of us can give the gift of life.’ – Jay Inslee
‘It is the gift of seeing the life around them clearly and vividly, as something that is exciting in its own right. It is an innate gift, varying in intensity with the individual’s temperament and environment.’ – Bill Brandt
‘I have the wherewithal to challenge myself for my entire life. That’s a great gift.’ – Twyla Tharp
‘Well, really the way worked was that I had probably built fifty robots before Mystery Science Theater, and I had sold them in a store in Minneapolis in a store called Props, which was kind of a high end gift shop.’ – Joel Hodgson
‘I think all music is a gift from God.’ – Pharrell Williams
‘I really feel like the gift is also the curse. It’s always half-and-half. Whatever brings you the most joy will also probably bring you the most pain. Always a price to pay.’ – Alice Hoffman
‘The easiest gift to give my husband is anything to do with airlines and flying.’ – Kelly Preston
‘Feminism – the word – can give us a handle, a rallying point, a common ground, and help us build a bridge. Why not claim the gift of the word as a place to begin?’ – Betty Buckley
‘The word, and the concept of feminism, was a gift because it gave me a sense of identity and a way of defining how I wished to live my life.’ – Betty Buckley
‘Looking back at it now, I really feel like it was a gift because I don’t know if I have the talent to become a prima ballerina. It’s such a hard job to have. I don’t have any regrets about it.’ – Diane Kruger
‘It was actually a very nice little book done by a gift book company. They illustrated it with pictures from 1920s football, before there were face guards.’ – Gregg Easterbrook
‘Being in the studio is okay but sitting in a room by yourself composing is a discipline that takes a certain type of mind set and Tommy has a great gift for that as did the previous guy.’ – James Young
‘Then all of a sudden, Quentin Tarantino comes along and puts a song from 40 years ago in one of his films and they’ve suddenly discovered you. That was a real gift that Quentin gave me.’ – Nancy Sinatra
‘Success is fickle, but creativity is a gift.’ – Tommy Shaw
‘Just as a puppy can be more of a challenge than a gift, so too can the holidays.’ – John Clayton
‘The most astonishing joy is to receive from the muses the gift of a whole lyric.’ – James Broughton
‘In 1995, I founded The Molecular Sciences Institute with a gift from the Philip Morris Company where I hoped that we could create an environment where young people could pursue science in an atmosphere of harmonious purpose and high intellectual challenge.’ – Sydney Brenner
‘The United States invented the Internet and it has been our gift to the world, paid for by our taxpayers. The U.N.’s desire to take that gift as a means of increasing its power must be stopped.’ – John Doolittle
‘It is a natural gift I was born with but it’s something I’ve had to nurture in training.’ – Michael East
‘Dishonesty in government is the business of every citizen. It is not enough to do your own job. There’s no particular virtue in that. Democracy isn’t a gift. It’s a responsibility.’ – Dalton Trumbo
‘I would hope it’s better, but I’m actually acknowledging now that I want to explore all these levels from a whisper to a scream with this gift I’ve been given.’ – David Coverdale
‘Mrs. White, in my opinion, made false statements. She misused what she claimed was the prophetic gift she had.’ – Walter Martin
‘That’s the goal, to survive your gift.’ – Itzhak Perlman
‘I owe Bankhead a gift; she made a director out of me.’ – Elia Kazan
‘What I work hard at doing is staying on a path of being kind and showing and proving that I’m a good person to society. That’s hard. The talent, that’s a gift. I just came here like that.’ – Erykah Badu
‘I consider my musical ability to be a gift from the Creator. It’s not that I try to work hard or nothing like that, it’s a gift, it was given to me, and I appreciate it.’ – Erykah Badu
‘Anything that had to do with art I been doing all my life. It was a gift. It’s nothing I work real hard at doing.’ – Erykah Badu
‘We were always able to sing and blend well together; that’s our gift. But aside from that, we’re really two different guys.’ – Paul Simon
‘Today riches and honours have been lavished on me, but one gift has been lacking, the most important one of all, the only one that matters, the gift of youth.’ – Knut Hamsun
‘Talent can be developed, gift is God-given. But artists have both.’ – Carroll O’Connor
‘It’s not a gift of mine, but one given to me, to be able to criticise myself and not be crushed, by myself or by others.’ – John Malkovich
‘Having good health, being able to breathe and be happy, that’s one of the most beautiful gifts. On top of that, I have the gift to play music and make people happy through that. I’m just telling you from my heart, I’m so in love with life.’ – Roy Ayers
‘An actress who has the gift of swaying the emotions of an audience, of compelling tribute of tears, or of moving the public to joyous merriment, cannot always be satisfied to set aside her whole career, in the work that she loves, simply because she is married.’ – Billie Burke
‘How many McDonald’s gift certificates would it take to sway a lot of Americans to pledge to never publicly criticize the U.S, President?’ – James Bovard
‘The real beauty of it – key to my life was playing key chords on a banjo. For somebody else it may be a golf club that mom and dad put in their hands or a baseball or ballet lessons. Real gift to give to me and put it in writing.’ – Vince Gill
‘I was born with a natural gift. My mother recognized the talent.’ – Bernie Worrell
‘I’m immensely grateful for the precious gift my mother has given me. She is my hero today and every day.’ – Steven Cojocaru
‘I have never planned anything. I have been doing this job for over 50 years. I have been paid to work with some wonderful people and it has been a huge gift, to me.’ – Donald Sutherland
‘With Whitney she has such a unique sound and powerful instrument that she made those songs her own. She might as well have written them because she brought such a power and passion to them that were very unique. She has a great gift.’ – Justin Guarini
‘It was pretty extensive – we worked out 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 3 months, which I think is more than anybody in the Olympics. I thought well I don’t need this, the girls need it, but it was a gift.’ – David Carradine
‘God gave me the gift to be able to play instruments and I have to play.’ – Lenny Kravitz
‘I am not trying to change the world. I am just offering my gift that God gave me, and if somebody is moved by it, that’s beautiful.’ – Lenny Kravitz
‘It is my fondest wish that the gift of song that God has given me will flow from my soul to yours and help ease any burden that might weigh upon you.’ – Bobby Womack
‘What he has done for women is final: he gave to their service the best powers of his mind and the best years of his life. His death consecrates the gift: it can never lessen its value.’ – Millicent Fawcett
‘The earth is a tremendous gift. There is nothing else like it in the known universe. I want to leave it the way I found it.’ – Dennis Weaver
‘Mitch and I have known each other for such a long time, and we’re both so pleased to be given this opportunity at this point in our lives to play characters that we’ve never really had a chance to play before. It’s a great gift. Plus we’re wise enough to appreciate it.’ – Susan Sullivan
‘I think if I have any kind of unique gift, it’s more in the comedy area than it is in the dramatic area.’ – Susan Sullivan
‘The ability to make music is a gift that you’re born with; it’s not something you can learn.’ – Robin Trower
‘I have a very strange melodic gift: melodies come to me effortlessly.’ – Michel Legrand
‘For an actress there is no greater gift than having a camera in front of you, listening to the most beautiful music in the world and just being looked at!’ – Isabelle Huppert
‘My talent for playing the drums was a gift from God.’ – Keith Thibodeaux
‘Who is there that ever receives a gift and tries to make bargains about it? Let us, then, return thanks for what He has bestowed on us. Who can tell whether, if we had had a larger share of ability or stronger health, we should not have possessed them to our destruction.’ – Alphonsus Liguori
‘It is so easy to forget that this is good that we’re alive. We should be enjoying this gift of being alive.’ – Victoria Principal
‘It took me a while to figure that out and to realize what a gift that I had been given. And when I finally did, I dedicated myself to be the best pitcher I possibly could be, for as long as I possibly could be.’ – Nolan Ryan
‘Talent is a gift that can be given, and it can be taken away. We have to appreciate that.’ – Sidney Sheldon
‘Some people just come in, do it and they know it’s right. It turns out better than you imagined it was going to sound. When that happens, you take it as a gift.’ – Jules Shear
‘Baseball for me was instinctive, born within me, given to me as a gift from God.’ – Willie Stargell
‘I waited with a beeper for a year and 10 months to get that gift.’ – Shelley Fabares
‘We have tried you citizens; we are trying you now, and you have a couple of dollars for the sorrowing mothers, brothers and sisters by way of a charity gift.’ – Rose Schneiderman
‘Every day is a gift with a child, no matter what problems you have.’ – Carol Ann Duffy
‘What is hard to remember when you’re in the middle of it is that when you get through to the other side, you always walk away with a gift. If you can stand in there and not walk away from it, you get transformed by it.’ – Kathy Mattea
‘President Reagan achieved such successes because when you sat in a room with him, there could be over 1,000 people in the room, yet you felt like there was only the two of you, and his wonderful wit would put you at ease. That was a tremendous gift.’ – Elton Gallegly
‘I’ve learned one important thing about God’s gifts – what we do with them is our gift to Him.’ – Robert Wagner
‘My greatest gift that I have in life is basketball.’ – Isaiah Thomas
‘A woman may race to get a man a gift but it always ends in a tie.’ – Earl Wilson
‘The excellence of a gift lies in its appropriateness rather than in its value.’ – Charles Dudley Warner
‘People give one another things that can’t be gift wrapped.’ – Nadine Gordimer
‘It’s not listed in the Bible, but my spiritual gift, my specific calling from God, is to be a television talk-show host.’ – Jim Bakker
‘In an individualistic culture, the narcissist is God’s gift to the world. In a collectivist society, the narcissist is God’s gift to the collective.’ – Christopher Lasch
‘Musical practice is too young an art in America to warrant a search for men with a conductor’s gift.’ – Anton Seidl
‘The ability to conduct is a gift of God with which few have been endowed in full measure.’ – Anton Seidl
‘Eloquence, n. The art of orally persuading fools that white is the color that it appears to be. It includes the gift of making any color appear white.’ – Ambrose Bierce
‘Creative genius is a divinely bestowed gift which is the coronation of the few.’ – Margaret Elizabeth Sangster
‘It is in the gift for employing all the vicissitudes of life to one’s own advantage and to that of one’s craft that a large part of genius consists.’ – Georg C. Lichtenberg
‘Fidelity is a gift not a requirement.’ – Lilli Palmer
‘The conductor’s gift does not always go hand in hand with that of composition; indeed, the union is found much more seldom than is popularly believed.’ – Anton Seidl
‘When you’re special to a cat, you’re special indeed, she brings to you the gift of her preference of you, the sight of you, the sound of your voice, the touch of your hand.’ – Lester B. Pearson
‘A thick skin is a gift from God.’ – Konrad Adenauer
‘A singer starts by having his instrument as a gift from God… When you have been given something in a moment of grace, it is sacrilegious to be greedy.’ – Marian Anderson
‘I think he would have been proud and smiling… when we laid him to rest because his family was together. I think that was a great gift to be able to give Dad at the end.’ – Michael Reagan
‘The worst gift that I ever gave a girl was a suitcase for Christmas. As in, ‘I can’t think of anything to give you, but here’s a new suitcase.’ Afterward, I was like, ‘What were you thinking, idiot?” – Jensen Ackles
‘John Wells let me write a couple of West Wings, which was an incredible gift. I loved it once I got past the brain injury part of it, and so I’m working on a couple of things that are far from fruition, but what I want to pursue.’ – Bradley Whitford
‘Democracy is an extraordinary adventure. It’s difficult, full of daring and risk and danger. But it’s the greatest gift we have.’ – Jon Voight
‘Free is really, you know, the gift of Silicon Valley to the world. It’s an economic force, it’s a technical force. It’s a deflationary force, if not handled right. It is abundance, as opposed to scarcity.’ – Chris Anderson
‘Well, because I have twin seven-year-old boys, I enjoy the gift giving stuff a great deal. We do both Hanukkah and Christmas, so it is a costly, though extremely pleasing proposition.’ – Fred Melamed
‘This is a gift. This is a gift from God. It’s really like the old Biblical passage that talks about your body being a temple. That’s not to say that I’ve never done anything but I’ve never abused myself. Never gone over the top for a long period of time.’ – Teena Marie
‘I just think it’s a blessing that I was able to have the gift of words and to be able to put them into music. I was given a great gift all the way around. I didn’t ever have to really go out and look for songs, you know.’ – Teena Marie
‘When I grew older and awkward, when my parents divorced and life had gone all to hell, Demetrie stood me at the wardrobe mirror and told me over and over, ‘You are beautiful. You are smart. You are important.’ It was an incredible gift to give a child who thinks nothing of herself.’ – Kathryn Stockett
‘It’s a real gift to be able to have the works of brilliant, great people to learn from and build from. It gives you so much more to draw on, and then you don’t have to be all about three-chord pop songs. I don’t really like that kind of writing.’ – Regina Spektor
‘I just like being all over the place and writing whatever comes to mind. Having the tools? It’s such a gift.’ – Regina Spektor
‘Over the past few years, the road to confrontation has shown its consequences: loss of innocent lives, destruction and fear. Most costly, however, was the loss of hope. The most precious gift that you can present to your peoples over the coming weeks is renewed hope born out of tangible progress on the ground.’ – Abdullah II of Jordan
‘Plunderous is the palate I gift to you, openly I hug the universe of our friendship expanding its outer limit.’ – Bradley Chicho
‘My responsibility to God is to live. That’s the gift he gave me.’ – Mary J. Blige
‘What I thought at the moment was the worst thing that could happen was absolutely the biggest gift I’ve received.’ – Trey Anastasio
‘I understand what my gift is, which is making people laugh, hopefully. It’s more on that level. I don’t need to be a leading man, I’m fine with that.’ – Chris Kattan
‘Greece has given Europe the opportunity to fix a defect in the euro zone, that is the fact that we did not have a fiscal union. Now steps have been taken to begin that process. And there is more solidarity from nation to nation, and that is a good thing. That has been Greece’s gift to Europe.’ – George Papandreou
‘I wanted my new release ‘Get Back Up’ to benefit Haiti in their tragedy and I am blessed to use my music to help as your purchase becomes our gift.’ – TobyMac
‘The first time I had sat down to a meal I had grown on my own, along with a bottle of wine that we had made, I burst into tears. To be in touch and be in tune with that is an extraordinary gift.’ – Emilio Estevez
‘I’ve actually been given a great gift. When I walk into an audition with a director, I’m carrying no baggage. They haven’t seen me in anything, even though I’ve done nine films.’ – Jessica Chastain
‘Beauty, unlike the rest of the gifts handed out at birth, does not require dedication, patience and hard work to pay off. But it’s also the only gift that does not keep on giving.’ – Paulina Porizkova
‘The best gift we can have is living in the present moment and really enjoying it for what it is; and, not being in our heads and getting sidetracked.’ – Amy Smart
‘You know, the point of a novel – or to me, the point of a novel, the gift of a novel is to go really deeply inside people’s lives and inside their personal experiences.’ – Curtis Sittenfeld
‘I always think about which blood drive was going on in Georgia that day when that husband or mom or school teacher rolled up their sleeve and actually gave me a second chance at life. It’s the ultimate gift of life, and I’m the one who was on the other end.’ – Niki Taylor
‘For me, singing is the most natural thing in the world. I’ve grown up with it and I know I’ve got that gift.’ – Stella McCartney
‘My season 2 ‘Good Wife’ wrap gift was this deluxe package of Mortal Kombat. I played it for, like, two weeks straight.’ – Matt Czuchry
‘Violence would be a huge gift to those who want a divided Lebanon.’ – Saad Hariri
‘When you’re young, you think you can do anything, and that was really a gift. That’s why I can never understand someone telling me ‘no’ today. ‘No’ just isn’t an option.’ – Sandra Lee
‘I know that I have a voice and can use it for good or bad. It’s a gift from God.’ – Demi Lovato
‘I was very fortunate in my gene mix. The gambling instincts I inherited from my father were matched by my mother’s gift for analysis.’ – T. Boone Pickens
‘Michael is a gift from Allah, and he is taking him back. The world didn’t appreciate him.’ – Jermaine Jackson
‘I happen to be interested in watching a face age. I like faces of women aging so it makes me personally quite sad. That’s a beautiful gift from God. If people don’t want to see that anymore then I won’t be in anymore movies.’ – Debra Winger
‘The greatest gift is our own eyes, sense of smell, and abilities to deduce.’ – Patricia Cornwell
‘In terms of instilling the values of mental toughness and work ethic, discipline is the gift that keeps on giving.’ – William Baldwin
‘The Lord has never spoken to me, but I feel Chick-fil-A has been His gift.’ – Dan T. Cathy
‘My father was a very good craftsman. He made furniture, he made silverware and he had an incredible gift in terms of how you can make something yourself.’ – Jonathan Ive
‘I’m not going to give a courtesy gift to a person who’s going to win, and I’m not going to give a sympathy gift to a person who’s going to lose.’ – Tim Kaine
‘Books are my very favorite gift to give. If you give a book to someone and they really respond to it, you feel you’ve actually changed their life in some way.’ – Jeannette Walls
‘Jamie Foxx does a good rendition of me. It’s a real gift, mimicry of that kind, the tonal thing. It’s sort of like having a talent for playing an instrument.’ – Al Pacino
‘You go on these Internet blogs and people say the meanest things. I’m a normal person. Just because I’m in the spotlight doesn’t mean I’m God’s gift to the world. I’m learning and making mistakes just like every other 17-year-old girl out there.’ – Hayden Panettiere
‘If you give a good performance, something that gets some feeling across to people, that’s such a rare gift. It’s underestimated at this point in history, when the music biz is inevitably turning into a kind of politics.’ – Iggy Pop
‘If we misuse the gift of sexuality, we’re going to suffer the consequences, and I firmly believe we are suffering the consequences.’ – Salvatore J. Cordileone
‘Love is a gift.’ – Kathy Najimy
‘Well, Mozart is extraordinary not only in that he became virtuoso along the lines of his father, but that he had that compositional gift, that melodic gift. By the time he was four, he was doing piano concertos with harmony in the background.’ – Twyla Tharp
‘I wake up every day and I can’t wait to go to work, and that’s a gift. Not too many people have the opportunity to feel that way.’ – Tiger Woods
‘The thing is, people can’t complain about profit-oriented moves if they’re only interested in profit themselves. You can’t have it both ways. If they’re willing to polish up a gift and sell it to make money, they can’t really complain about the fact that somebody above them has sold them down the river. That’s the way it goes.’ – Ian MacKaye
‘I just feel like I have this gift that I’ve been given. It’s like, ‘Someone unwrap it! Here it is!’ That drive can’t be held down.’ – Katy Perry
‘When Little Richard used to stand up and play it was just fabulous, and Liberace had the candlesticks and the rings and the gift of the gab. The piano’s is the most ungainly rock’ n’ roll instrument of all time but those two people transcended it, as did Jerry Lee Lewis.’ – Elton John
‘My mom brought me up to believe that my talent is a gift and a blessing.’ – Christina Aguilera
‘I love what I do. I was given the most incredible gift that can be given to anyone. I could never imagine a world without music, and I feel grateful that I’ve been given the ability to share that.’ – Dionne Warwick
‘Everyone is given one gift, a reason for being, and it’s our obligation to do something with it. Obviously, it’s a challenge – but if you’re not taking the bull by the horns, I have no patience for you. You’re just taking up space.’ – Melissa Rosenberg
‘Tobacco is America’s greatest gift to the world!’ – David Hockney
‘I wouldn’t be able to do the songs as long as I’ve been doing if I didn’t feel the pulse of the world. But I can feel people and I know what they want. I feel like I know how they are, because I am the people. And I just have a gift.’ – R. Kelly
‘I was born with the gift.’ – Joe Namath
‘In some ways, my gift for music and writing was born out of tragedy, really, and loss.’ – Joni Mitchell
‘I’m honestly not a great gift giver. I could give better – my girlfriends have always complained about that.’ – John Legend
‘I love and adore being a mother. It’s the greatest gift I’ve ever been given.’ – Uma Thurman
‘My parents always made education and school the number one priority. They believed that an education is the best gift you can give to your child.’ – Debra Messing
‘I was trained by Method acting teachers and we were taught that aside from whatever gift you may or may not have or the level of that gift, that you were obliged to know how to build a table. It’s a craft. It’s like being a ballerina or a violinist.’ – Ellen Barkin
‘When you meditate or pray… both are forms of meditation… you give up control and find the answer and you open yourself to receive God’s gift, the universal force, or whatever that is.’ – Erin Gray
‘I guess I feel like it’s a gift to meet those talented artists like George Lucas and Oliver Stone, Spike Lee and Richard Kelly. Even if it’s a small role, it’s a gift to be working that closely with them.’ – Bai Ling
‘Basically, I have a gift as an actress, and I want to present the sophisticated side of me as an actress and a person.’ – Bai Ling
‘Our fears are an amazing gift of the imagination… a way of glimpsing what might be the future when there’s still time to influence how that future will play out.’ – Karen Thompson Walker
‘When you’re a houseguest and you leave, it’s nice to straighten something up or send your hosts a useful gift. And when you leave the planet, it’s nice to have made a positive contribution.’ – Alexander Payne
‘It’s amazing how I can just ramble on for hours, isn’t it? And so unentertaining or uninteresting. But I can ramble on for hours. It’s a sort of terrible gift, isn’t it?’ – Graham Norton
‘A tea set is good for a newborn girl. It is a gift that instantly makes the room a girl’s room.’ – Phoebe Cates
‘My life has been a gift up to this point, and I’ve been blessed beyond my wildest imagination. And wherever this ride takes me is where I’m going.’ – Sean Hannity
”The Good Wife’ was definitely the biggest surprise and gift that I’ve had in a long time, and that did come out of some other work that I had done. That whole adage of ‘work begets work’ actually worked in that case – it was at the very end of their first season that my character was first introduced.’ – Carrie Preston
‘Writing is writing. It’s an abiding, wonderful talent, craft, gift that stays with you your whole life. And you can go in different forms, and you can try them. Look at me: I’m writing novels because I found something I love because I tried it.’ – Adriana Trigiani
‘This is a gift that God has given me. I’m not smart enough to write for everybody, but it’s the love in these books that comes from Him and goes out to my reading audience. I’m forever grateful for that. It’s a privilege.’ – Jan Karon
‘To make a song is a gift, and once it’s done it keeps evolving and changing and becomes a tool to interact with other people. It’s like a conversation.’ – Ryan Adams
‘The best V-Day gift I’ve ever received was a personalized photo collage.’ – Candice Swanepoel
‘In college, I had a lot of friends who were writers and wanted to be writers and I felt intimidated by it. I just didn’t know if I had any gift or voice and I had no confidence about it.’ – Rashida Jones
‘My favorite toy growing up was Polly Pocket. But one gift that I wanted though never received for Christmas was a pair of trampoline moon shoes. You strap them to your feet and they have springs on them, and you can just jump around!’ – Lucy Hale
‘I’ve been funny my whole life. This is a gift God gave me.’ – Tracy Morgan
‘To be in a position, at my age, where I am financially independent, I can help develop things, I can promote stuff that I believe in, I can say no a lot and spend time writing – that is a gift.’ – Elliot Page
‘I had forgotten how thrilling a snow day is until my son started school, and as much as he loves it, he swoons at the idea of a free day arriving unexpectedly, laid out like a gift.’ – Susan Orlean
‘Becoming a CoverGirl is truly an honor and a gift. It opens up a new platform for me to inspire women to feel stronger, braver and more beautiful inside and out.’ – Janelle Monae
‘I never had worked in high fashion before, had never experienced it when I was a model before. I appreciate it, being able to work with such talented people; it feels like a gift now. I think for everyone everything happens at the right time, and this is my time.’ – Saskia de Brauw
‘If you love dance and you have the gift of teaching, teaching is super amazing and important because my teachers planted that seed in me. As a teacher you understand the difference or the definition of a Baryshnikov or a Gregory Hines, so teaching is really important and very necessary.’ – Laurieann Gibson
‘People were being so mean as a result of my ability – a gift, really. So I think that’s what makes me fight harder to provide an option to aspiring kids or artists. I wouldn’t want anyone to go through what I went through… to see a little girl or a little dancer experience such unnecessary rejection.’ – Laurieann Gibson
‘I agree that a love of reading is a great gift for a parent to pass on to his or her child.’ – Ann Brashares
‘When my girlfriend and I talk about being happy, I’ll get choked up, which I think is the greatest gift you can give a girlfriend.’ – Seth Meyers
‘Being attractive, it’s not something I do consciously. It’s incredibly flattering that people think I appeal to women. But that was a gift from my parents.’ – Ioan Gruffudd
‘I’m not sure I have a natural gift. I think it’s just that some people have an easier time expressing their emotions, maybe because of the way they’ve been raised, and I’ve always been expressive.’ – Thomas Horn
‘One can always come up with funny lists and jokes. You know what? I take it back. Not everyone can always come up with funny lists and some jokes. I’m very lucky to have a gift where I can do that pretty ably.’ – John Hodgman
‘I’m the hardest person to buy a gift for.’ – Stacy Keibler
‘My grandmother taught me that accomplishments meant less than what you left behind. I started to ask myself what impact my comedy would have on people’s lives. And that changed my act. I got cleaner. I stopped talking about generic stuff like airplane peanuts and started speaking the truth about my gift.’ – Sherri Shepherd
‘I worked at Sears in the Woodfield Mall as a gift wrapper. I’m actually a great gift wrapper, and the customers were so nice to me. I was only 16, and eventually Sears put me in customer service because I was so friendly.’ – Sherri Shepherd
‘We often talk about people with great memories as though it were some sort of an innate gift, but that is not the case. Great memories are learned. At the most basic level, we remember when we pay attention. We remember when we are deeply engaged.’ – Joshua Foer
‘I love learning, and I think that curiosity is a wonderful gift.’ – Andie MacDowell
‘When you decide you’re going to join a project, it’s all about the gift you’re giving the audience.’ – Joyce DeWitt
‘I really felt that ‘Three’s Company’ was a gift. When it ended, I had money in the bank and had the luxury to pursue a life that meant something, to learn and discover.’ – Joyce DeWitt
‘I use Ole Henriksen eye gel when I think of it, and go for facials when spa gift certificates appear as a professional thank-you or in a gift bag. Once ensconced in a facialist’s chair, I let myself be coaxed into all sorts of treatments, because I’m there already, so why not?’ – Sloane Crosley
‘Where would the memoir be without bipolar writers? I mean, that’s what – that whole oversharing thing is really a very clear symptom of bipolar disorder. And I’m not saying that every, you know, I’m not accusing every memoirist of being bipolar. But I think in a way it’s kind of a gift.’ – Ayelet Waldman
‘I look at my voice and my abilities as a gift. I don’t feel that I can even take any credit for it, but it’s such a huge presence in my life. It is my life. It’s my identity, it’s everything. And it’s given me a great deal of joy and a sense of purpose – I can’t imagine my life without it.’ – Emmylou Harris
‘I mean, I could tell that I really had… a precious gift. And I’m so glad that I have followed through with it and really used that gift and nurtured it, honed it, made it sharp and tried to use it as a tool now to make music and to make a living for my family.’ – Ricky Skaggs
‘The nature of human beings is to eat meat and fruits and vegetables, and therefore we have to kill animals. I don’t have a problem with that. But it’s a sacred moment. It’s a gift of life.’ – Eric Ripert
‘It is so gratifying to hear from people who look up to you and see you in these places that they never thought they could ever dream to be. It’s emotional. You really feel like you’re opening up people’s minds, who otherwise thought that they couldn’t dream big. That’s such a huge opportunity. It’s such a gift.’ – Julia Jones
‘The Internet is truly God’s gift to the Chinese people.’ – Liu Xiaobo
‘As an actor, you just want to work, and then you just want to be on a show or have a job that you love, and you hope that job will last – those things have happened. To have that platform to then talk about something that is very personal to me like marriage equality, it feels like a gift. I try and really respect that voice and not abuse it.’ – Jesse Tyler Ferguson
‘Anyone who says they don’t like to receive a gift is lying.’ – Dita Von Teese
‘To know that every moment – regardless of how it comes wrapped – is a gift greater than you can give yourself, is to be well on your way to a life without fear.’ – Guy Finley
‘In my view, the best gift is one that benefits both the receiver and the planet.’ – Andrew Weil
‘A beautiful bouquet or a long-lasting flowering plant is a traditional gift for women, but I have recommended that both men and women keep fresh flowers in the home for their beauty, fragrance, and the lift they give our spirits.’ – Andrew Weil
‘I am so grateful to God for giving me the gift of 48 years with my daughter. And I accept that He knew when it was time to take her.’ – Cissy Houston
‘The idea of being on a show where each season stands alone, and you can come back the next year and show an entirely different aspect of your personality or your talent or your anything is an enormous gift that you rarely get in television.’ – Sarah Paulson
‘The coolest gift I’ve ever gotten from a fan was from the Franklin Mint. It was a knife, and it had a picture of General Wade Hampton, who my oldest son is named after. It’s a collector’s item and came with a case and a stand and everything.’ – Josh Turner
‘I would say I have sort of a natural gift for character, and following one person’s point of view at a time, and dialogue, but I’m not naturally good at strong plot.’ – Emma Donoghue
‘It’s okay to fail ’cause there’s no failure, you’re just informing the richness of your experience, and that’s – that’s the greatest gift you can possibly give yourself.’ – Ben Foster
‘I’ve never used chat-up lines; I don’t have the gift of the gab.’ – Ricky Whittle
‘I think good actors are born with a kind of native gift. When you study too much with an acting teacher, that gets taken away. You lose your sense of spontaneity.’ – Titus Welliver
‘I enjoyed singing and playing guitar but didn’t have the stamina to make music-making a career. In reality, writing was my real gift, and as soon as I figured that out I never looked back.’ – Ann Powers
‘I consider myself a songwriter before anything else. The fact that I have been able to write both of my records and establishing myself as a songwriter is super-important to me. Some people have that gift, where they can take on anything and make people believe it. I like to do a song from personal experience.’ – Kate Voegele
‘For Christmas I do gift bags for my friends and the cast, and I put ‘treat yo self’ key chains in there. And people send me pictures of ‘treat yo self’ all the time.’ – Retta
‘You know, when George Bush talks about freedom not being America’s gift to world but God’s gift to all humankind, it smells like market testing to me.’ – Joe Klein
‘I cling to the idea that Herman Melville had to work at the end of his career watching ships in a dock, as a shipping agent in New York. Any writer who thinks they should be given patronage because of their gift… you don’t have to look too far in history to see that’s just not the case.’ – Jess Walter
‘I have to certainly stand for life. I know that there are some who disagree, and I respect their point of view. But I believe that life begins at conception. The only exception I have to have on abortion is in that case – of the life of the mother. I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize life is that gift from God.’ – Richard Mourdock
‘For me, I was given a great gift by my father and my mother in that I was never told any idea was bad. I was told I could explore any thought as long as I wasn’t hurting someone else.’ – Jennifer Lynch
‘A dog is the greatest gift a parent can give a child. OK, a good education, then a dog.’ – John Grogan
‘I give novels as gifts, and there is nothing I like to receive more as a gift.’ – Khaled Hosseini
‘To be able to make up stories has been a great gift to me from my ancestors and from the storytellers who were so numerous at Laguna Pueblo when I was growing up. I learned to read as soon as I could because I wanted stories without having to depend on adults to tell or read stories to me.’ – Leslie Marmon Silko
‘We were a religious, practicing, Catholic family – Mass together on Sunday, Catholic schools, and parents who practiced everything they preached. A great gift was their total absence of any derogatory talk about people of any race or culture and we were on a street of many faiths, though no other races at that early time.’ – Trina Paulus
‘Writing is never, ever easy but I wake up every morning grateful for the gift of being able to do this.’ – Guy Gavriel Kay
‘I get asked, ‘What do you miss most about being a pastor?’ I think it’s the intimacy, the incredible gift of intimacy. You go through death with somebody, with their families, and there’s an intimacy that comes through that that is just incomparable.’ – Eugene H. Peterson
‘I kind of – I like my life; I feel I have lots of opportunities. And my parents actually having had such high expectations for me – I would say it’s the greatest gift that anyone has ever given me. I complained a lot when I was little, but that’s how I feel now. And that’s why I tried to do the same with my two daughters.’ – Amy Chua
‘I was raised, myself, by extremely strict but also extremely loving Chinese immigrant parents. To this day, I believe that their having high expectations for me, coupled with love, was the greatest gift that anyone’s ever given me. And so that’s why, even though my husband is not Chinese, I try to raise my own two daughters the same way.’ – Amy Chua
‘Christmas was always a big holiday in our family. Every Christmas Eve before we’d go to bed, my mom and dad would read to us two or three stories and they would always be ‘The Happy Prince,’ ‘The Gift of the Magi’ and ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,’ and I would like to keep that alive.’ – Cameron Mathison
‘I admit that invective is one of my pleasures. This only brings me problems in life, but that’s it. I attack, I insult. I have a gift for that, for insults, for provocation. So I am tempted to use it.’ – Michel Houellebecq
‘The writing of ‘Topdog’ was a great gift. I feel the play came to me because I realized that my circumstances, while causing me despair and heartbreak, also held great possibility, if only I could see it.’ – Suzan-Lori Parks
‘It’s a gift that I have and I became good at it. When I heard my first song I didn’t even know that I could write songs.’ – Rico Love
‘My #1 goal is to become a successful singer and share my gift with the world.’ – Leah LaBelle
‘The love of husband and wife, which is creative of new human life, is a marvellously personal sharing in the creative love of God who brings into being the eternal soul that comes to every human being with the gift of human life.’ – Vincent Nichols
‘Faith in God is the gift that takes us beyond our limited self, with all its incessant demands. It opens us to a life that stretches us, enlightens us, and often springs surprises upon us. Such faith, like love, sees that which is invisible and lives by it.’ – Vincent Nichols
‘I have the gift of laughter. I can make people laugh at will. In good times and in bad. And that I don’t question. It was a gift from God.’ – Buddy Hackett
‘Free people make the only milieu possible in society for the full gift of one’s self to church, state, and family. Free people enjoy and sustain and feel with one another because they live for one another. The paths of life are intermingled lives.’ – Haniel Long
‘No matter what your work today, if it is worth while at all – time to plan it out, time to do it well, and time to finish it, is your day’s greatest gift and your greatest job.’ – George Matthew Adams
‘The Jews did not go into darkness all at once. It was a gradual work, until they could not discern the gift of God in sending his Son.’ – Ellen G. White
‘I think acting is a gift.’ – Jonathan Jackson
‘I collect skulls; I think that a beautiful skull is a really good gift for a guy.’ – Bella Heathcote
‘I’m always a bit suspicious of writers who have the gift of the gab.’ – Zadie Smith
‘I’ll tell you something: my dad was a nuclear engineer and he was really bright, and I’ve always said that because of negotiating at such a young age with my dad, it was really such a gift because I could then negotiate with very difficult personalities – and not end up being the scapegoat. I learned to really pick and choose my battles.’ – Faith Prince
‘The best Mother’s Day gift I ever got was just a full day with the kids where they did their mommy pampering. They cut cucumbers and put them on my eyes and my daughter gave me a facial. I’m not even sure what was in it!’ – Elisabeth Hasselbeck
‘I think that’s my gift in this world is to put experience into music.’ – Elle Varner
‘I got this Christmas gift with the entire Beatles catalog. I had fun trying to duplicate what I was hearing on these records, only using the instruments I had at hand – an acoustic guitar, and that’s all. It was endlessly amusing to me to try to imitate John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s harmonies using the guitar.’ – M. Ward
‘As an actor, I don’t really think you find yourself. I mean, once you find yourself, I think it becomes boring and you become set in your ways. I think, as an actor I think it’s not a bad thing but more of a gift. It’s something you’re always doing as an actor. You’re adjusting constantly.’ – Justin Chon
‘I love all the gift guides that the magazines put out, whether it’s ‘InStyle’ doing Mother’s Day gifts or color guides, or the ‘O’ magazine Christmas guide.’ – Dylan Lauren
‘I don’t know if I particularly want to be remembered for anything. I personally do not think I’m a great gift to the world. I’ve been very fortunate.’ – Edmund Hillary
‘I believe we all must face the fact of death. It is both gift and curse.’ – Richard Lamm
‘Just as we would have no need of the farmer’s labor and toil if we were living amid the delights of paradise, so also we would not require the medical art for relief if we were immune to disease, as was the case, by God’s gift, at the time of Creation before the Fall.’ – Saint Basil
‘I know that every time I step on the stage it’s a real gift, so I try not to take it for granted, and I try to make it an experience that the public can really participate in.’ – Joyce DiDonato
‘Despite living in an increasingly digital world, there are a few things I still like to keep as physical reminders. So every time I see an exhibition, I make a pit stop at the museum gift shop to buy a postcard of something that inspired me.’ – Ruzwana Bashir
‘We who work in technology have nurtured an especially rare gift: the opportunity to effect change at an unprecedented scale and rate. Technology, community, and capitalism combine to make Silicon Valley the potential epicenter of vast positive change.’ – Justin Rosenstein
‘Expressing my feelings and then the opportunity to share it with others is just such a gift.’ – Mattie Stepanek
‘I’ve gotten books published. I’ve met famous people that are very nice. I look back and I say, ‘Wow. Thank you, God, for giving me this gift. And thank you for helping me to keep going.” – Mattie Stepanek
‘I feel that God has given me a very special opportunity that I should not let go to waste. I use the gift he has given me.’ – Mattie Stepanek
‘In a serious relationship, I will definitely write music about a guy. I’m totally into mix tapes and I’m all about small little things. I’ll drop by their door and just leave a gift or come over if they’re sick and make them chicken noodle soup and rent a DVD and play board games. I think those little things mean a lot to someone.’ – Aly Michalka
‘My mother’s songs are really turning out to be masterpieces. I have inherited this incredible legacy and am so fortunate to bathe in her sensibilities. It is tinged with tragedy. I’d much rather she was here in person, but there is still a positive force to come out of her death and that is having the gift of music that she gave.’ – Rufus Wainwright
‘Christopher Hitchens was a wit, a charmer, and a troublemaker, and to those who knew him well, he was a gift from – dare I say it – God.’ – Graydon Carter
‘I have to say, I’m good with gifts. If I find something perfect for a certain person, I’ll just get it and put it away in a kind of nook under my bed – a little gift hutch, if you prefer.’ – Julian Casablancas
‘Starting in ’98 when I was researching ‘Traffic,’ I got to meet really serious people in Washington, which for a screenwriter was kind of a great gift. And I really valued these guys; I stayed in touch with them, and I find their point-of-view quite interesting.’ – Stephen Gaghan
‘Feeling good about your life, but not expressing a heartfelt ‘thank you,’ is like wrapping a gift for someone and never giving it to them.’ – Chip Conley
‘I know it’s corny, but laughter is a two-way gift, and hearing people laugh just warms me through and through.’ – Andy Dick
‘Am I a trance medium? No. Have I got a gift psychically? Absolutely not. But I believe in the survival of consciousness after death.’ – Dan Aykroyd
‘I’m one of those people that will say, ‘My cancer was a gift.” – Melissa Etheridge
‘I think it is a great gift to make people laugh, and it shouldn’t be underestimated.’ – Beeban Kidron
‘At the end of the day, the TV show is the best job in the world. I get to go anywhere I want, eat and drink whatever I want. As long as I just babble at the camera, other people will pay for it. It’s a gift.’ – Anthony Bourdain
‘The gift my mother gave me was the gift of possibility. From an early age, she instilled in me a belief that I could do anything I wanted to do. It wasn’t a matter of, ‘Can I?’ or ‘Should I?’ It was just, ‘You can, you must, you will!’ She wanted me to believe that anything was possible.’ – Maria Shriver
‘I try to be very honest in my writing. It’s amazing, though, to think that people are responding to what we do, but it’s okay if they’re responding in a positive way too, because I think just creating anything at all to put out there is a gift.’ – Tavi Gevinson
‘It’s almost a blessing when we meet people who naturally want to do the sort of things that are in high demand in society. What a gift to do that, as opposed to other people who would say, ‘I want to be a novelist but actually I have to be an accountant.” – Alain de Botton
‘When I design something, I think of it as a gift to somebody else.’ – Eva Zeisel
‘I may be the first actress to admit that beauty doesn’t hold you back. I think beauty is a gift that you have to make the most of. I’ve worked hard at trying to look my best.’ – Catherine Zeta-Jones
‘I love what I do, and I just remember that every breath and every moment is a gift and it can be taken away at any time, so I want to appreciate it and be grateful for it while it’s here.’ – Alyson Stoner
‘Picasso’s superhuman gift for draftsmanship might have made him lazy about pursuing the full potential of color. It was not unusual for him to build a composition by first outlining figures and objects in black and then filling the interstices in a perfunctory manner that can put one in mind of a museum-shop coloring book.’ – Martin Filler
‘When I meet young girls, I’m always like, ‘Just do me one favour. Love what you look like right now – and remember I said it 10 years from now because it’s the greatest gift I can give.” – Jennifer Love Hewitt
‘I consider the voice a gift from the heavens, and as all the gifts from the heavens, they must be used, but the minute that the heavens call it back then of course I will stop.’ – Andrea Bocelli
‘I don’t have an extraordinary degree of self-confidence, but I know the gift I have been given from God and I try to share it with as many people as possible. Having a great voice is not a merit. I don’t think it is a merit.’ – Andrea Bocelli
‘My approach as an actor has always been the same, in that the greatest gift that you’re ever going to have is your imagination because you’re not going to have all life experiences. So you draw on things that are sort of close to it but you spend your time expanding on it or drawing something specific on whatever your situation is.’ – Vince Vaughn
‘Music has been so healing in my life, so the fact that my music could be that for someone else is the best gift of my whole career. People have told me that they got married to my music, divorced to my music, and played my music while they were having their baby.’ – Gloria Estefan
‘Water is at the center of every chemical reaction, and therefore should be the earth’s most precious gift.’ – Janine Benyus
‘The best gift I was ever given was the arts. My mum gave me those on a silver platter. Growing up, her and my grandmother would take me to ballets, classical concerts, even smoky jazz clubs I wasn’t supposed to be in!’ – Jill Scott
‘I think there’s something that happens at 40 where you settle into your own skin and you stop caring what people think – you realize life is a gift from God and you want to live it to the fullest.’ – Tyler Perry
‘Being able to stay with a character over the course of years is a gift.’ – Jennifer Hale
‘I’m really not interested in showing me or playing me. My gift as an actor, given to me, is to be able to become other people.’ – David Suchet
‘Celebrity is a gift. I’m very lucky.’ – DJ Qualls
‘The greatest gift that an actor can have is good scripts because then you’re relieved of the responsibility of trying to elevate the material.’ – Holt McCallany
‘I thought I was God’s gift to mankind and the greatest Irishman since George Best.’ – James Nesbitt
‘If you’re not careful to think and speak words of faith, worry will creep in, and it will not only steal your peace and joy, it will steal your ‘today.’ The present is the greatest gift God ever gives us. So hold on to the peace that’s yours in Christ. Don’t let it go.’ – Joyce Meyer
‘We don’t get the Tony gift basket anymore. You used to get incredible swag – there was like $5,000 worth of stuff. I remember getting an MP3 player, gift certificates to restaurants, a three-year gym membership.’ – Kevin Chamberlin
‘I became an actress and studied human emotions so that I could give the gift of feelings to my son. This is what my whole journey has been about.’ – Tisha Campbell-Martin
‘That’s an amazing gift as an actor – to be able to say I have an audience in so many countries in the world and that people know my work.’ – Elisabeth Harnois
‘In Latino culture, the quinceanera’s a big thing – it’s when a girl becomes a woman. But I think age is just a number – you become a woman with the responsibilities you take on and the decisions you make. I started realizing that every day is a gift – you have every day to be thankful you’re alive.’ – Emily Rios
‘I consider wisdom supernatural because it isn’t taught by men – it’s a gift from God.’ – Joyce Meyer
‘When I was 17, I taught music; I had 65 students a week, and I did that for a year. So that’s pretty regular. But it was great to give the gift of music to people, seeing them learn. It’s great to influence young people in a creative way.’ – Matt Schulze
‘The best gift a fan could give me is undeniable support.’ – Jessie J
‘I’m a storyteller… I haves a God-given gift that I can share with you and perhaps entertain you and bring you along for the ride… So when anybody tries to take that away from me, or impede that, I get defensive.’ – Kurt Sutter
‘The best gift I could give my father would be to represent India in the Olympics. If I can do that in 2016, and even win a medal, it will be fantastic.’ – Jeev Milkha Singh
‘I felt that one of the things God impressed on me was that I needed to start a nonprofit corporation, so that any money that came my way, whether it was an honorarium, a book sale or a gift, would go into a nonprofit ministry.’ – Anne Graham Lotz
‘I’d love to be the political voice of my generation, but that’s not my gift.’ – Anita Baker
‘I thought that when you have more success that you’d feel more buoyed or feel more confident. But in fact my brain has the gift of switching it around and saying, ‘Now people are expecting something. Now you’re really going to let people down.” – Maria Bamford
‘I would like to go back and spend a Christmas with my family and myself when I was five years old and just see what that dynamic would be like. Observe it. I think it would be a magical gift.’ – Sharon Lawrence
‘I like to keep most of my bats. I think I have about 250 bats, including my first – which cost Rs 2000 – a gift from my dad in 1998, when I moved to the hostel.’ – Suresh Raina
‘I want to move people; it’s not about me. I have been given the gift of being an entertainer. I love getting to touch people’s lives.’ – Bethany Joy Lenz
‘There is a gift of the Holy Spirit that is given to both men and women in the New Testament. This is what makes the New Testament a New Testament rather than the Old Testament, in which women did not have such privileges.’ – Tony Campolo
‘Being able to scream at the top of my lungs in front of people is very therapeutic. It is a great gift for me to be able to do that.’ – Dave Matthews
‘Intuition is the wisdom formed by feeling and instinct – a gift of knowing without reasoning… Belief is ignited by hope and supported by facts and evidence – it builds alignment and creates confidence. Belief is what sets energy in motion and creates the success that breeds more success.’ – Angela Ahrendts
‘I have a very personal feeling about how special America is, and I know how precious freedom is. It is a sacred gift, sanctified by those who have lived it and those who have died defending it. My right to speak my mind, to have a voice, to be what some have called ‘opinionated,’ is a right I deeply and profoundly cherish.’ – Teresa Heinz
‘The most beautiful gift I have received in my life is the trust of Clint Eastwood. When you have this respect and this kind of responsibility on your shoulders, of course you bring the best of yourself.’ – Cecile de France
‘Anytime you have an opportunity as an actor to really grow along with your character, I think that’s a real gift.’ – Alan Ritchson
‘In playing, I suppose my greatest gift was to express the way I felt or the willingness to express myself.’ – Eric Clapton
‘Defining art is huge; I feel like it’s such a subjective thing. It’s more like what’s not art. You know what I mean? I think there can be an art in the way people live their lives, and art can be a gift someone gives to somebody.’ – Kathleen Hanna
‘That’s the biggest gift I can give anybody: ‘Wake up, be aware of who you are, what you’re doing and what you can do to prevent yourself from becoming ill.” – Maya Angelou
‘Salvation and Christ’s love is a gift. You don’t earn it. You’ve got to receive that gift.’ – Joel Osteen
‘The older I get, the better I understand that every day is a gift.’ – Joel Osteen
‘I try to live what I teach. A lot of things come against us in life, but we should try to find something to be grateful for, and see each day as a gift.’ – Joel Osteen
‘I love the process of acting, and to turn your passion into a career is the biggest gift.’ – Ram Kapoor
‘Anyone who has been given the gift of being opposite an actor who gives and gives, it just makes you better.’ – Sandra Bullock
‘You need to have a relationship with what you put inside you. I don’t want to get all spiritual about this, but I believe our bodies are a gift, and to deface it is disrespectful.’ – Michael Moore
‘I have enormous respect for anyone who would offer to sacrifice their life to defend my right to live. Is there any greater gift one can give another?’ – Michael Moore
‘This life is a gift, and to reject that gift or abuse that gift is not human and not worthy of us.’ – Michael Moore
‘Don’t make anybody a homemade gift. Unless you’re really good, or it’s going to be really practical. If it’s a little thing you think is cute ’cause you made it, just forget it.’ – Amy Sedaris
‘In the entertainment business, the biggest gift you could ever get is not an Oscar, it’s not a Grammy, it’s longevity.’ – Christian Kane
‘My talent is definitely a gift. I don’t understand where it comes from. I don’t play an instrument, and I never went to school for music production, but I know exactly how a song should sound and how to give an artist direction.’ – Sean Combs
‘The only gift my dad ever bought me is still in my jewelry box. It died at 10 minutes to 11 decades ago, but the gold Caravelle watch keeps my dad alive. A watch isn’t about keeping time. It’s about stopping it.’ – Regina Brett
‘Making a mix CD – albeit slightly old school – is generally a pretty cool gift and something I like to receive, or giving someone a book that moved you. Writing an inscription inside makes it even better.’ – Ryan Reynolds
‘I like helping children. I have a big thing with children. You can correspond with the child, send something to them as a gift. You know it’s actually getting there and you are doing something to help.’ – Lisa Marie Presley
‘Most Americans acquire dogs impulsively and for dubious reasons: as a Christmas gift for the kids. Because they saw one in a movie. To match the new living-room furniture. Because they moved to the suburbs and see a dog as part of the package.’ – Jon Katz
‘Our choosing the right consistently whenever the choice is placed before us creates the solid ground under our faith. It can begin in childhood, since every soul is born with the free gift of the Spirit of Christ. With that Spirit we can know when we have done what is right before God and when we have done wrong in His sight.’ – Henry B. Eyring
‘Every child of Heavenly Father born in the world is given at birth, as a free gift, the Light of Christ.’ – Henry B. Eyring
‘We are the spirit children of a Heavenly Father. He loved us and He taught us before we were born into this world. He told us that He wished to give us all that He had. To qualify for that gift we had to receive mortal bodies and be tested. Because of those mortal bodies, we would face pain, sickness, and death.’ – Henry B. Eyring
‘Life eternal is to live in unity, in families, with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Eternal life is only possible through the keys of the priesthood of God, which were restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Holding that eternal goal before the youth you lead is as great a gift as you could give them.’ – Henry B. Eyring
‘Increased spiritual strength is a gift from God which He can give when we push in His service to our limits. Through the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, our natures can be changed. Then our power to carry burdens can be increased more than enough to compensate for the increased service we will be asked to give.’ – Henry B. Eyring
‘To find gratitude and generosity when you could reasonably find hurt and resentment will surprise you. It will be so surprising because you will see so much of the opposite: people who have much more than others yet who react with anger when one advantage is lost or with resentment when an added gift is denied.’ – Henry B. Eyring
‘I wanted to go to acting school, and I did a few modeling jobs to pay for acting school. I never aspired to be a model. I met lots of photographers, and I learned a lot about light – as a source of love and illumination, light as a gift of love. On film, that’s a massive contribution.’ – Jacqueline Bisset
‘If you’re lucky, I think you know what you want to do with your life. I think that’s a greater gift that any of the gifts you might have when you do know, if you know what I mean. It must be awful to not know what to do.’ – Maggie Smith
‘I’m blessed. I have a 13-year-old girl’s eye and a 14 year-old boy’s eye. I’ve been given the gift of sight by people who decided to donate organs. I try to do as much organ-donor work as I can.’ – Mandy Patinkin
‘Parents are supposed to instruct their kids. It doesn’t mean they necessarily have that gift of teaching.’ – Francis Chan
‘I am not a prisoner of conscious, but people try to make me one sometimes. It is both a gift and a curse. It’s a high honour but can create limitations – I have to be fluid.’ – Talib Kweli
‘Working on ‘Malibu Country’ with Reba McEntire is truly a gift. She is one of the nicest people that I have ever had a the pleasure to be around. She is so professional and always on time and has it together. It really is a joy to be around her.’ – Sara Rue
‘I’m always being asked if I watch ‘The X Factor,’ and I do from time to time. I know it makes for great TV and that Simon Cowell has a real gift.’ – Shirley Bassey
‘I love children and I love family and I love that interaction. Because I had a really close relationship with my mother, I understand that deep powerful love, and it’s so beautiful. To be a mother to a child is the most brilliant gift; it’s gorgeous.’ – Alicia Keys
‘If there’s one thing I could attribute my strength to, I would say it’s the gift of laughter, which I inherited from my mother’s side.’ – China Machado
‘Schubert had arguably the same melodic gift as Mozart, but even less support. He didn’t have the early exposure, never got to travel anywhere, and yet generated and amassed a body of work that grew and developed and is very profound.’ – Twyla Tharp
‘God gave us the gift of life in heaven. Many people are given this gift, but they never open it. They never do anything with it.’ – Rick Warren
‘I’ve always had a sick sense of humor, and I’ve always wanted that to permeate the music because I don’t take myself seriously. I take the music seriously, but I know I’m not God’s gift to anyone except my mom.’ – Josh Homme
‘My financial service business is the absolute best thing I have done to empower the poor. I run many charities and fight many political causes, but my financial service company is the greatest gift I’ve given.’ – Russell Simmons
‘When the ‘godfather of punk’ thing started floatin’ around, it was, I was really, really embarrassed. I thought I should have a great, big rig and a cape and everything, and it was very embarrassing. And then after a while, you learn that if people call you anything, this is a great gift.’ – Iggy Pop
‘I am pleased to say that I am not a tortured comedian – I laugh a lot. My twenties weren’t particularly happy, but it’s the same for a lot of people. In your thirties, you realise that your life and your worries are really insignificant, and you have to force yourself to be more positive and take each day as a gift.’ – Miranda Hart
‘In January we start saving money, getting out of credit card debt, funding our retirement accounts, and we’re doing wonderful. Then, every single year like clockwork, starting in November, all of you fall into this trap that says, ‘I have to buy this gift… I can’t show up at this party and not have something for everybody.” – Suze Orman
‘I always get asked for suggestions on what to get food-lover friends. While there are many gifts out there that a foodie would love, it’s always good to do some research beforehand so you know you’re getting a gift that will last.’ – Marcus Samuelsson
‘I’m an avid shoe fan. I got my first pair of Louboutins as a birthday gift from Jami Gertz.’ – Toks Olagundoye
‘Every comic can report a few ‘gift from the gods’ moments.’ – Dick Cavett
‘Inspiration is the greatest gift because it opens your life to many new possibilities. Each day becomes more meaningful, and your life is enhanced when your actions are guided by what inspires you.’ – Bernie Siegel
‘I feel like everything I write about is a gift I need to share because there is somebody out there going through a similar thing that might need to hear it. I know music helped me a lot. And still does.’ – Ashley Monroe
‘You could take away the singing, and I am fine. But don’t take away my gift of writing. It is the best way I can relate and express what I am feeling and what I am going through.’ – BeBe Winans
‘I lost a girlfriend when I was in my 30s. She was 46. It all sounds so trite, but I put a Post-it on my dressing-room wall. It said, ‘The past is history. The future is a mystery. This moment is a gift, which is why it’s called the present.” – Samantha Bond
‘What a gift it would be to receive at Christmastime a greater knowledge of the Lord. What a gift it would be to share that knowledge with others.’ – Ezra Taft Benson
‘I just feel that God gave me a certain gift, and that was to go out, do storytelling and be an actor. And my responsibility with that gift is to do the best job possible and to re-create real life.’ – Eric Close
‘The greatest gift you have been given is the gift of your imagination – what do you dream of wanting to do?’ – Amanda Lindhout
‘My captors were definitely aware that what they were doing was wrong. It came out in small ways – occasionally through a show of guilt or compassion. One of the boys bought me a gift. Another used to sneak me acetaminophen tablets.’ – Amanda Lindhout
‘Working on ‘Big Give’ was an opportunity that I felt compelled to do. It was my chance to share in showing people how they can give big in their own life, to send the message that giving goes way beyond the gift of money. We want to share that the best thing you can give is your time and understanding.’ – Nate Berkus
‘Of course, giving is deeply emotional. But supplementing emotion with research makes it more likely that a gift can have a bigger impact. It’s like any investment. After all, you wouldn’t put funds into stocks or bonds without understanding the potential return. Why wouldn’t you do the same when investing in society?’ – Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen
‘I think of talent as being God-given. I know that contradicts what a lot of people believe, but that’s how I see it. I think the Beatles were meant to be, you know? So when I listen to Paul McCartney, I think, ‘Here’s the person that God gave the gift of allowing him to write ‘Let It Be.” – Brandon Flowers
‘It’s seen as dirty to be ambitious. What if U2 weren’t ambitious? We wouldn’t have that gift we have from them.’ – Brandon Flowers
‘I know a lot of people who wouldn’t be comfortable with everything that comes with being in a band as big as Nirvana. The thing that I don’t understand is not appreciating that simple gift of being able to play music.’ – Dave Grohl
‘Gold was a gift to Jesus. If it’s good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me!’ – Mr. T
‘I was always admiring people who seemed to conduct themselves with ease in the world. Maybe that’s a great gift to give your kids if you can do that. Because they can move through the world without neurosis, this anxiety about everything, which our own parents gave us.’ – Peter Capaldi
‘Peace is a gift that is embodied through the Holy Spirit through the acceptance of Christ.’ – Monica Johnson
‘Giving is a really big thing around Christmas, as well it should be. Christmas is about giving, and it all stems from the greatest gift the world has ever received – the gift of Jesus Christ.’ – Monica Johnson
‘Jesus’ sinless life was given as a gift to the world – the ultimate gift. Some would receive Him, and others wouldn’t. Nonetheless, He continues to be our gift, and His life and death makes it possible for His children to receive eternal life with Him. That’s a reason to give God glory.’ – Monica Johnson
‘Often it seems that there are writers who are their best selves on the page. That Seamus Heaney was as genuine and deeply admirable in person as in his poems was to me a gift, then as now.’ – Natasha Trethewey
‘It’s a real gift to work with my sister. We obviously have such a shorthand communicating with each other that it makes the process easier. And from growing up together and watching so many films together, we ended up with pretty similar taste.’ – Jennifer Todd
‘This is what I have discovered – and it has been a gift in itself – that books live over and over again in different people’s minds. That I might mean one thing as I write, but a reader’s experiences will take it somewhere else. That is like a conversation, I think. It is a true connecting up.’ – Rachel Joyce
‘To burn a CDR of music you like to give as a gift to someone you wish to become closer to is a cold, moist-palmed, mouth-breathing bummer.’ – Henry Rollins
‘That’s part of what always fascinated me about the Flash. Yes, he had superpowers, but he wasn’t superhuman. He was vulnerable. He could be hurt or killed. He’s not getting in a jet. He actually is the jet. So he had this gift, but with it came this risk. And I think that’s what makes the character relatable.’ – Greg Berlanti
‘You can love someone but not want to keep a gift from that person. It’s okay to pass an item along to someone who will appreciate it more.’ – Gretchen Rubin
‘There’s an excellent movie we have on TCM called ‘It Happened on Fifth Avenue,’ which was originally going to be directed by Frank Capra… but just before he was going to start working on it, he came across this story called ‘The Greatest Gift.’ And that turned into ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.” – Robert Osborne
‘Heavenly Father has given us a priceless gift in our capacity to communicate with each other. Our communications are at the core of our relationships with others. If we are to return home safely to Heavenly Father, we must develop righteous relationships with His children here in mortality.’ – L. Lionel Kendrick
‘The Holy Spirit can be with you always and guide you back to Him, but in order to enjoy the benefits of this holy gift, you must truly receive it, and then you must use it in your life. How sad it would be to be given such a precious gift and then set it aside and never use it.’ – Margaret D. Nadauld
‘My years with failing vision have prompted me to learn about the nature of the eye and the incredible gift of sight, which I had always taken for granted until it began to slip away.’ – Henry Grunwald
‘Latter-day Saints, having received the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, are entitled to personal inspiration in the small events of life as well as when they are confronted with the giant Goliaths of life.’ – James E. Faust
‘I believe that every person’s individual testimony of Jesus as the Christ comes as a spiritual gift. No one can successfully dispute or challenge it because it is so personal a gift to the one to whom it has been given.’ – James E. Faust
‘Free agency, given us through the plan of our Father, is the great alternative to Satan’s plan of force. With this sublime gift, we can grow, improve, progress, and seek perfection.’ – James E. Faust
‘The transcendent gift of the Holy Ghost, along with membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is bestowed by confirmation, by the laying on of hands by those having priesthood authority.’ – James E. Faust
‘A boatload of government money is indeed a gift. Unless, I suppose, you’re one of the saps paying for the cargo.’ – David Harsanyi
‘I was in Siena and decided I wanted to write a story set there. Then I discovered that the original story of Romeo and Juliet was set in Siena. It occurred to me that this was too much of a gift – I had to do it. That’s how I ended up writing a parallel story to Romeo and Juliet.’ – Anne Fortier
‘The best gift for an actor is the love of the fans. Many make sweet cards, write letters and even come and meet me wherever I am in India. The love and blessings of your elders is also always cherished, but the extra mile that the fans go to is memorable.’ – Abhishek Bachchan
‘When I was 13 or 14, my mother used to gift me books that I was dying to read. Those are my most memorable birthday gifts.’ – Kajol
‘I just feel that ‘The Color Purple,’ which was my 10th book, was a true gift from my ancestors.’ – Alice Walker
‘Polio’s pretty special because once you get an eradication, you no longer have to spend money on it; it’s just there as a gift for the rest of time.’ – Bill Gates
‘I just really want it at some point to be OK for women and young girls to be sexy because I think that’s a power, a gift that we were given by God or the universe or whatever.’ – Megan Fox
‘The gift of a writer as good as Dickens is not to explain everything; that way, the reader has, in terms of their imagination, somewhere to go.’ – Ronald Frame
‘I’ve got two girls, and they both make beautiful drawings. One of them really has a gift for the way that she colors around certain lines.’ – Mark Grotjahn
‘A relationship with young people is very important to me. It’s important to have a sense of what’s going on in their world and not just in my own. So the opportunity teaching provides is a gift.’ – Grace Paley
‘My mother thinks I’m a national treasure. She’s the only one who thinks my Golden Kela award is the greatest gift ever.’ – Cyrus Broacha
‘My introduction to the Madonna Inn came as a young boy when we would take summer vacations to a nearby town. My dad would take us into their gift shop bathroom, which was a huge waterfall that functioned as the men’s urinal. So as a kid, this was the most amazing thing I had ever seen.’ – Aaron Ruell
‘At 11, 12, I thought I was clumsy, ugly, a mess, an unappealing person, but I did have the gift of the gab. I had the school record at Haberdashers for consecutive detentions for simply speaking out of turn.’ – Simon Schama
‘Val Kilmer gave my husband, David Mamet, a Randall knife as a gift when the two of them were making the film ‘Spartan.” – Rebecca Pidgeon
‘Time is a gift and a threat because we are bodily creatures. We only come into existence through the bodies of others, but that very body destines us to death. We must be born and we must die.’ – Stanley Hauerwas
‘Israel knew that there was no greater gift than to be given God’s name, but that gift was a frightening reality that threatened to consume her. Israel, who would be tempted by the idolatrous presumption she possessed God’s name, rightly never forgot she could not say God’s name.’ – Stanley Hauerwas
‘To come to terms with our beginning requires a truthful story to acquire the skills to live in gratitude rather than resentment for the gift of life.’ – Stanley Hauerwas
‘The ability to share the gospel isn’t a ‘gift’ that has been given to only a few Latter-day Saints and denied to the rest.’ – Clayton M. Christensen
‘Occasionally, we are given a reminder of how precious a gift it is to understand the plan of salvation.’ – John Bytheway
‘I think I’m lovable. That’s the gift God gave me. I don’t do anything to be lovable. I have no control.’ – Ann B. Davis
‘I don’t need no stool and mike stand. I don’t need all of that to be funny. I’ve been funny my whole life. This is a gift God gave me. I spread love wherever I’m at. I’m like Marvin Gaye.’ – Tracy Morgan
‘I love people and care about them, and I felt I had a gift to cheer people up. If I could get into their homes and make their environment more attractive, they’ll be happier, and it would be very rewarding for me.’ – Alexandra Stoddard
‘I don’t just write hits for myself, or for other artists, or to just be writing it. I write it because I was born to do this. I was given this gift, and I’m making the most of my opportunity.’ – Future
”La Mancha’ was a gift from me to me. I never thought for a minute it was going to be a hit.’ – Mitch Leigh
‘Every year, my boys and I create new cool gift wrap paper. We hand paint the design and come up with interesting ways to wrap each gift.’ – Kelly Wearstler
‘I definitely start early and keep items in mind throughout the year for key people in my life. I love wrapping everyone’s gifts in hand-painted wallpaper sheets, which gives the gift extra love.’ – Kelly Wearstler
‘Looking back, some of the happiest moments of my childhood were spent with my arm in packets of breakfast cereal, rootling around for a free gift.’ – Craig Brown
‘My mom always said if you have a gift, it is absolutely not about you. So I don’t get twisted and think for one second it’s all about me.’ – Tessanne Chin
‘I still feel like I’m alone at times – even if I’m in the midst of a million people. Because no one – including me – understands my mind creatively. I haven’t really been formally introduced to my gift yet. I feel like I’m still on the runway.’ – R. Kelly
‘I’ve really been writing a lot of country songs. I used to get criticized for doing a ‘Bump & Grind,’ then turning around and doing a gospel song. But the truth is I’m glad I have a gift that allows me to switch lanes.’ – R. Kelly
‘I think that’s the greatest gift one can have: point of view. You know? I’ve come to believe that if you have a bad memory of something, change it.’ – Liza Minnelli
‘I understand that being able to appeal to the public and having an amazing sense of humour is not something that comes easy. It’s definitely a gift and for which I’m thankful.’ – Kevin Hart
‘My gift, if I have one, is choosing terrific talent and providing the atmosphere for them to do their best work.’ – Geraldine Stutz
‘Personally, I do not know whether humankind is alone in this vast universe. But I do know that we should cherish our existence on this precious speck of matter… the greatest gift that could be bestowed upon us. For all practical purposes, there is only one planet Earth.’ – Ban Ki-moon
‘We were against the war in Vietnam and for voter registration and social issues. Everybody has their choices, and the obligation of a comedian is first to entertain. And if you’re so inclined, and you have some bigger thought, make sure you express it, because that’s a gift.’ – Tom Smothers
‘I believe that being dependent makes you more vulnerable. I believe work is the greatest gift you will ever receive.’ – Steve Southerland
‘When I visited Ireland with my father and heard the people on the farm talking, I couldn’t believe the gift of language they had. I felt very untalented.’ – John Patrick Shanley
‘Over and over, since I was very young, I see things that are about to happen. You can call it heightened intuition; you can call it visions… I see it as a gift. It’s my role to give people a heightened awareness, to show that basically we can change the world.’ – Shari Arison
‘I work with gang members, and I feel a kind of affinity and gift, even. But who would’ve thunk it, you know? I mean, I didn’t anticipate it.’ – Greg Boyle
‘Not only did Jesus come as a universal gift, He came as an individual offering with a personal message to each one of us.’ – Heber J. Grant
‘The gift of the Holy Ghost, which is the right to receive the Holy Ghost as a constant companion, is obtained only upon condition of faith in Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion, and the laying on of hands by authorized servants endowed with the Melchizedek Priesthood.’ – Joseph B. Wirthlin
‘I remind everybody that the Sabbath was the Jewish gift to civilization.’ – Edgar Bronfman, Sr.
‘I would never dispute that I’ve been given a gift by God. That’s something I’ve been raised to believe. I’m not an idiot: I know that I can sing, and I know that I can act.’ – Lindsay Pearce
‘Shakespeare gives you these clues – these little pieces of gold dust, I call them. They tell you so much about the story, the character, the drive, the intentions. It’s like a gift.’ – Christian Camargo
‘For myself, anyway, I think that recurring has been such a gift, because I’ve been able to work on a lot of shows that I’ve really had a lot of respect for before I went in, shows like ‘Friday Night Lights’ and ‘Nip/Tuck,’ for example.’ – Jessalyn Gilsig
‘A fan once stopped me outside a theatre and gave me as a gift a signed photograph of Sir Laurence Olivier. It was strange, but nice, too.’ – David Alan Basche
‘Laughter is really a gift. It’s the most vulnerable state you can be in.’ – David Dobkin
‘If depression has taught me one thing, it is this: what a rare and beautiful treasure is the simple human gift of joy. For me now, joy – our capacity to delight in one another and in the world – is the reason why we are here. It is as simple as that. And I feel compelled to spread the word.’ – Giles Andreae
‘King Frederick I of Prussia conceived the Amber Chamber in 1701 as a magnificent gift to the Russian royal family that would seal the alliance between the two powers.’ – Stephen Kinzer
‘The Internet is a gift to fashion.’ – Natalie Massenet
‘Do you remember those AM radio kits you get as a kid, and you build your own AM radio? Well, I never actually built one. But I did get them as a gift, for, like, 3 Christmases in a row, and I hated them.’ – Lucas Till
‘My husband has a gift for reaching out to people in need. I always look over and see him connecting to someone who needs to talk or needs some support.’ – Jodi Benson
‘I’ve always been drawn to stories involving brothers, which started with my first viewing of Sean Penn’s, ‘The Indian Runner.’ This subsequently lead to my working with my two brothers, Scott & Brad. I couldn’t imagine a greater gift in the business.’ – Dean Winters
‘I have a special ability to spot TV shows that don’t go past two seasons; that’s my gift.’ – Lizzy Caplan
‘Why are cancer patients so hard to buy for? This question always puzzles me. When people are healthy, things are so simple, including gift buying. A jaunt to the local mall or a day in front of the TV watching QVC can be just enough for all the loved ones on your list.’ – Jenna Morasca
‘Family is a unique gift that needs to be appreciated and treasured, even when they’re driving you crazy. As much as they make you mad, interrupt you, annoy you, curse at you, try to control you, these are the people who know you the best and who love you.’ – Jenna Morasca
‘Somewhere during the ‘Next to Normal’ Broadway run, I found myself learning more about myself onstage than in real life, and I truly realized the beautiful, tremendous, extraordinary gift that is performing.’ – Jennifer Damiano
‘London has this culture of the theatre that is so big, it was a like a dream – but I never had a thought to be able to play here because my English was not very good. So being given the opportunity to come work here was like a gift.’ – Elena Roger
‘If you take away the gift of reading, you create the gift of listening.’ – Malcolm Gladwell
‘Afghanistan does have an air force: It has two C-130s. I saw one of them. It was nice, a gift from the United States. But two planes don’t even make a Caribbean charter airline, let alone an air force for a country at war.’ – Richard Engel
‘I think you can get better in mathematics on a school level, but when you’re talking about being a mathematician, I think that’s definitely a gift of genes or whatever, you know? Whatever your pool is.’ – John Hurt
‘I think acting is a gift. I look at someone like Ben Kingsley, and he’s incredibly charismatic, even when he’s not acting. He’s an incredibly hard worker, and he has a very specific system that he does with his work.’ – Jonathan Jackson
‘Emotional stability has not been America’s gift to the world.’ – Michael Leunig
‘Obama’s gift for delivering set-piece oratorical tours de force had special resonance to Americans fed up with a president who could hardly string two words together without a collision of syntax and whose idea of clever was the single entendre.’ – Tina Brown
‘I have a friend who is very successful in business, and his motto is, ‘Don’t do what you can do. Do what only you can do.’ First of all, you have to know what your specific, unique gift is and then you do that… every actor does that but every once in a while an actor plays a part that only they can play.’ – Rob Lowe
‘I think this is one of the greatest gifts of this era: Because of the Internet, we can start to type a question into Google and watch the question auto-fill. In that moment, we know someone else has asked that same question. The gift of realizing you’re not alone is incredibly powerful.’ – Ze Frank
‘The ability to talk to kids and reach kids is a gift I’ve been given, and I may as well use it.’ – Montel Williams
‘To grow up knowing you’re loved is astounding. It’s a huge gift to a child.’ – Ted Danson
‘My gift seems to be that I am able to tell a story in a comprehensible and engaging way.’ – Peter Coyote
‘I really try to have fun. If I don’t have fun, you won’t have fun. That’s what my gift is: to relieve people from a little of the pain and comfort in their lives by allowing my comedy to distract them. A good laugh is almost as good as any doctor visit.’ – Louie Anderson
‘Songwriting wasn’t my gift. I think you have to cultivate a gift; you have to practice and develop craft around your gift so that you can execute it in more convenient, efficient ways.’ – Linda Ronstadt
‘I believe imagination to be a uniquely human gift. The reason I like my job, and have liked it for more than half a century, is that I get to use my imagination.’ – Tyne Daly
‘I can’t see as well as I used to. Which is actually convenient because everything I see is in extremely soft focus! I think that’s God’s little gift to me.’ – Andie MacDowell
‘Those with a gift for action, for their part, often express contempt for those whose gifts are more reflective. Men of action like to say, ‘Those who can, do, those who can’t, teach,’ forgetting that those who teach get to write the history books.’ – Michael Ignatieff
‘I would like to do my own daily talk show. Wisdom is the gift of ageing; no young person can have or buy it. My success was and is self-evident. I’m alive. I’ve lived. I’ve thrived and have grown as a person. I’m now healthier than ever. Who can argue with that?’ – Suzanne Somers
‘Fresh, organic, cage-free eggs that slip right out of the shell are a versatile gift of the food world and can be transformed into a variety of tasty meals.’ – Suzanne Somers
‘For me, the discovery of aquaporins was like a gift after 25 years in basic science.’ – Peter Agre
‘I love shopping for guys! A watch is a fantastic gift idea – an oversized, stainless steel version with links is classic and cool.’ – Nina Garcia
‘What will you and I give for Christmas this year? Let us in our lives give to our Lord and Savior the gift of gratitude by living His teachings and following in His footsteps.’ – Thomas S. Monson
‘Faith is salted and peppered through everything at Christmas. And I love at least one night by the Christmas tree to sing and feel the quiet holiness of that time that’s set apart to celebrate love, friendship, and God’s gift of the Christ child.’ – Amy Grant
‘Everyone has a hole inside themselves. They don’t know they had it until they have kids, and then that hole fills up. And it’s so great; it’s just God’s greatest gift to us.’ – Chuck Schumer
‘My father was a painter, so I was encouraged to take a sketchbook everywhere. Cameras are perishable, but I still have tonnes of sketchbooks from all the trips I’ve ever been on. It gets you by when you don’t know what to give people as a gift; drawings are good souvenirs.’ – Jane Birkin
‘One of the great pleasures of having children is spending one-on-one time with them. Sadly, I could do that for only a few minutes at a time. I’d never say that ADD/ADHD is a gift or a blessing. And if someone says it is a gift, I’d love to return it.’ – Howie Mandel
‘To be allowed to come back to WWE is the greatest gift that’s ever been given to me. Back in the day, I never appreciated what WWE had given me, because I was in too much disarray and too confused about my own life. I let opportunities foolishly slip through my hands.’ – Jake Roberts
‘If I give a book as a gift, it is invariably a children’s book with beautiful artwork and a simple text. I adore the feel of them, the care taken in the artwork, and the high visual stimulation that sets off the simple but often powerful message the text conveys.’ – Kim Harrison
‘I know that those of us who go into church work are to regard ourselves as servants, are to offer our lives as a gift.’ – John Ortberg
‘The fact that I am able to live a life and act and to do all of those things and support myself and my family is a gift.’ – Michael Cudlitz
‘Every year of my life, my dad has sent me a Valentine’s Day gift. Whether I was in the same house or across the country, he always sent something.’ – Sevyn Streeter
‘Of course, Nelson Mandela, everybody knows Nelson Mandela. I mean, he’s a great gift not only for Africa but for the whole world, actually. But do not expect everybody to be a Nelson Mandela.’ – Mo Ibrahim
‘In my opinion, education is the finest gift an individual can give a young person.’ – Donald Bren
‘One of the things your unconscious mind does for you – and it’s a great gift – is it gives you extra courage to view the outer world and it does that by giving you an extra-special view of yourself.’ – Leonard Mlodinow
‘When one knows at an early age that their gift, talent and direction is musical, one tends to focus on that and let nothing interfere or impede the forward motion toward the end of that rainbow. And after 50-something years of rockin’ out, you still realise there is no end to that distant rainbow until one’s last sunset.’ – Randy Bachman
‘The story of ‘Prometheus’ is the idea that if you’re given a gift from the gods, do not abuse it, and do not think you can compete.’ – Ridley Scott
‘The best gift you can give a baby is a full nine months of pregnancy.’ – Thalia
‘Harry Potter to me is a bore. His talent arrives as a gift; he’s chosen. Who can identify with that? But Hermione – she’s working harder than anyone, she’s half outsider, right? Half Muggle. She shouldn’t be there at all. It’s so unfair that Harry’s the star of the books, given how hard she worked to get her powers.’ – Ira Glass
‘When I did the film ‘Hear My Voice’ a few years ago, I disappeared fully up my own backside for a while. Because I thought my career was taking off, I became a bit of an egomaniac and a pain in the neck. I thought I was God’s gift to mankind and the greatest Irishman since George Best.’ – James Nesbitt
‘In Greek mythology, Cassandra was given the gift of prophecy, except – due to her rejection of Apollo’s affections – nobody would ever believe her warnings.’ – Kara Swisher
‘I had to have a complete liver transplant. I waited with a beeper for a year and 10 months to get that gift.’ – Shelley Fabares
‘I had no idea what awaited me when I took a job with CBS Records, and it was a total surprise to find I had a gift and an ear for music.’ – Clive Davis
‘With every problem comes a gift in hand.’ – Dick Dale
‘God gives you the gift of melody or He doesn’t – it’s as simple as that.’ – Gian Carlo Menotti
‘I really don’t think I have that much of the gift; I have a little bit, but I wish I were Schubert or Chopin or Beethoven, though Beethoven had a very difficult time writing melody, too.’ – Gian Carlo Menotti
‘We are the only alive creatures that are mortals; the animals are immortal, which is why they live stupidly. We are the only creatures that know that we will die, but that is a gift. It’s important because we know we have to take advantage and squeeze life and understand why we’re here in the first place.’ – Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
‘Queen Victoria was a woman of peerless common sense; her common sense, which is a rare gift at any time, amounted to genius. She had been brought up by her mother with the utmost simplicity, and she retained it to the end, and conducted her public and private life alike by that infallible guide.’ – E. F. Benson
‘There is no reason to suppose that taste is in any way a lower sense than the other four; a fine palate is as much a gift as an eye that discerns beauty or an ear that appreciates and enjoys subtle harmonies of sound, and we are quite right to value the pleasures that all our senses give us and educate their perceptions.’ – E. F. Benson