If certain talents were necessary for us, God would have given them to us ...
Fr. Basil Maturin (+1915):
There are many gifts that we may envy in others, yet if we had them, they would only be a hindrance. If they were necessary for us, God would have given them. We do not stud the handle of a hammer with precious stones; if we did, we should be afraid to use it. And God has not so encrusted our nature with gifts and talents as to blind us to its real purpose. In the Presence of the Truth we are forced to be true. Those whose aims were very lofty and unreal take a truer estimate of life.
