Hard work versus talent.

[Boone]

if you deem this thread inconsequential to the section, move it to its appropriate place.

Do you think hard work can top talent? Of course, with dedication and will considered along the arduous work put into mastering a given area.

 

[Dr. McNinja]

You get good at things by working hard on them.

 

[Graceful]

Even if you are talented at something (such as singing, dancing or somekind of subject like maths) you still need to be the best of the best if you want to succeed in life. Therefore, I think hard work is somewhat better.
Also, even if you may have talent, if you try and do something with it without hard work mixed with it, you may just about pass and not 100% succeed or you may just fail.
A good example of this would be a person good at Mathematics doing an exam without revision before hand and forgetting half of the material learned to them over the years.
Although I never revise, I'm never confident about my results either and I'm only talented in such areas of writing and examining texts, etc. But, I always work hard and memorise most things learned to me through my teacher/English lessons.

 

[Centiflora X]

Talent is nothing without effort.

 

[Musician of Literature]

I have much talent with singing and writing music, so I believe I will become famous. But I can't just sit back. If I do that, I will not get anywhere. So, you need a solid mixture of both talent and hard work to get to the top, where I'll be soon.

 

[Oryx]

I think often (not always of course), talent in things that are "practical", for example math, is inverse to the amount of work the person puts into it. However, this is opposite when you think of "impractical" talents, such as art-related talents. If a person is talented in math, in general they will use that talent to slack off in math classes, and therefore are shocked when they finally hit the limit of their talent, while the person who was working hard the entire time knows what work is and has no problem working for the grade that the talented person never had to work for.

However, outside of the core classes in school, generally the more talented someone is at something, the more they will do it. If they're talented at an instrument, they'll play it all the time. If they can sing, they'll sing all the time. It doesn't seem like work to them because they enjoy it, but they are practicing and improving. In that case, they go hand in hand.

 

[Demon.]

Wouldnt hard work eventually lead to being talented in something? I know some people are naturally talented at some things, but for the most part, hard work in something would eventually make you talented at that thing.

 

[Oryx]

Wouldnt hard work eventually lead to being talented in something? I know some people are naturally talented at some things, but for the most part, hard work in something would eventually make you talented at that thing.

Talent isn't being good at something, it's being naturally good at something. If you work hard at something, it will eventually lead you to be good at it, yes. But talent isn't something that you earn, it's something that you're born with.

Although whether or not talent exists has been argued in the past.

 

[PokéSwimmer]

Those who have talent for something sometimes never learn to work hard and therefore become lazy because everything seems so easy for them. If someone who has a natural talent for something is lazy, people who may not have as much talent, but work hard, will likely surpass them in every way.

However, if someone with natural talent learns to work hard, they won't just surpass most of the competition, they will reach a level that most people (hard working or not) wouldn't even be able to dream of. This applies outside of sports as well, but Michael Phelps is the perfect example of this.

Hard work combined with talent can get you anywhere.

 

[Lalapizzame]

Hard work can surpass talent that is left to decay due to slothful practices.

Hard work alone cannot surpass talent that is used efficiently and sensibly.

Hard work can rival talent, under certain circumstances. The easiest scenario would be for the talented one to be lazy, or simply not utilizing their talent, even if they are working. A mathematical intellectual that is acting as an artist may be surpassed by a hardworking accountant who is not the best at doing arithmetic and calculations.

 

[aruchan]

I have to say that talent-the natural "gift"-will almost always win over hard work, unless the prodigy doesn't try at all. Certain skills like artistry or sports reward those most who possess the natural talent to do them well. While you can always improve and do "better" with enough work, natural talent is invaluable.

 

[xelarator]

Yes, talent almost always wins over hard work. Why? Because a kid who worked hard on his/her homework for 60 minutes will get a slightly lower grade than a kid with talent who finished his/her homework in 10 minutes.

Talent is a reason why schools made Accelerated and Gifted classes to 'challenge' the talented. Hard work is going to stress you out if you do it all the time.

 

[Althea]

I guess it depends on what you're working hard/talented at, and how your mind works. There are some things - mostly academic, I think - that you don't really need to work hard at if you're naturally good at them, because your mind just works in a certain way; for example, a friend of mine barely attended University at all, and yet he managed to pass with 1st Class Honours, because he understood the subject. Other people worked really hard, and they fell just short of the mark.

But in the case of skills you need to acquire, such as playing a musical instrument, or something like that, I'd probably value hard work a little more than natural talent, because even if you have a natural talent for something, you still need to work for it to a degree, and that takes time - the more time you spend on something, the better you are at it, as a general rule.

I think for most things it really does depend on how your mind works as to whether or not it's better to be talented than hard-working, though. You could work as hard as you wanted at something and still not be able to do it, and just because you're naturally talented doesn't mean to say you're particularly good at it, just that you could be.

 

[Legobricks]

Short-term (eg. comparing children): Talent > work
Long-term: Work > talent
Corollary: Work and talent > work or talent; such skill lends a person notability to the people at large.

 

[Kura]

Hard work most definitely. Raw talent only gets you so far.

 

[Archer]

In general, one needs three things to succeed. Talent - they need the ability to do something well, drive - they need to put in the work and push for it, opportunity - the chance to do what you need to. Opportunity often comes from working hard to secure the chance, so keep that in mind.

If you want me to make a choice between them, I agree with Cassino, regarding the short/long term thing. Like school, a skillful person will understand something more easily, but if they fail to study it, they're going to forget. Funnily enough, because they rarely have to, skilled people are going to struggle a lot more with hard work.

 

[Guy]

Hard work most definitely. Raw talent only gets you so far.

Short, sweet, simple and to the point.

You can be extremely talented, but if you don't work hard at it, then you're not going to get very far to where you want to be. You see it with so many of the celebrities today. For example, you can have this extremely talented music artist and they'll be noticed by the public at first, but if they rely solely on their talent and they don't put any effort and push themselves into the industry to improve on what they can improve on, then they'll end up forgotten and unknown in the long run. Now this doesn't apply to everyone, but it's just a general example of the point at hand.

Thinking about this, it reminds me of a certain quote by the famous Anne Frank; "Earning happiness means doing good and working, not speculating and being lazy. Laziness may look inviting, but only work gives you true satisfaction."

To show the relation. "Laziness may look inviting" can be translated into one who is talented and looks promising. However, only hard work will give them what they truly desire.

 

[BareBones]

If a talented man does not practise and work, a hard-working man will surpass him with time.

Even if you are naturally talented at something that does not mean you should turn your nose up at working hard. Talent should be honed.

 

[poopnoodle]

if you deem this thread inconsequential to the section, move it to its appropriate place.

Do you think hard work can top talent? Of course, with dedication and will considered along the arduous work put into mastering a given area.

depends. but i wouldn't say one would top the other, both circumstances could be appreciated in different ways. a person who say, obsessively practices the piano would likely master the technique but not the art, while someone who naturally picked it up could perform a piece the audience can feel but be technically clumsy.

 

[Livewire]

I've seen both succeed before - the guy who works his ass off and is successful and the guy who was proverbially "born this way" and is naturally talented, and can get far with little effort.