See Also: ACCOMPLISHMENT

1. Able to absorb punishment as open buds absorb the dew —Grantland Rice
2. The abilities of man must fall short on one side or other, like too scanty a blanket —Sir William Temple
3. The ability to make a great individual fortune … is a sort of sublimated instinct in a way like the instinct of a rat-terrier for smelling out hidden rats —Irvin S. Cobb
4. Being creative without talent is a bit like being a perfectionist and not being able to do anything right —Jane Agner
5. Chose [people] with swift skill, like fruit tested for ripeness with a pinch —Paul Theroux
6. (My wife … ) cooks like Escoffier on wheels —Moss Hart
7. Cuts like a saw through soft pine through the chatter of freeloaders, time-wasting delegations —Stephen Longstreet

   In Longstreet’s novel, Ambassador, from which this is extracted, the efficiency tactics are diplomatic.

8. Efficient as a good deer rifle —Bruce DeSilva
9. Functioned as smoothly as a hospital kitchen —Laurie Colwin
10. Resourceful and energetic as a street dog —James Mills
11. Having communists draft the law for the most capitalist society on earth is like having a blind man guide you through the Louvre museum —Mark Faber, Wall Street Journal, June 19, 1986

    Faber’s simile pertained to the basic law that will govern Hong Kong in future.

12. His [Brendan Sullivan’s] management (of Oliver North) is like one of those pictures that museum directors settle for labeling “Workshop of Veronese” because the hand of the master is not there for certain but his touch and teaching inarguably are —Murray Kempton, New York Post, December 12, 1986

    Kempton’s simile describes the legal abilities of a member in the Edward Bennett Williams law firm, representing Colonel North during the Iran weapons scandal.

13. I can walk like an ox, run like a fox, swim like an eel … make love like a mad bull —David Crockett, speech to Congress
14. Instinct as sure as sight —Edgar Lee Masters
15. Native ability without education is like a tree without fruit —Aristippus
16. Natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study —Francis Bacon
17. Played bridge like an inspired card sharp —Marjory Stoneman Douglas
18. To see him [Chief Justice Hughes] preside was like witnessing Toscanini lead an orchestra —Justice Felix Frankfurter
19. Skilled … like a mischievous and thieving animal —Émile Zola
20. Skillful as jugglers —Daphne du Maurier
21. Talent is like a faucet. While it is open, one must write (paint, etc.) —Jean Anouilh, New York Times, October 2, 1960
22. Talent, like beauty, to be pardoned, must be obscure and unostentatious —Marguerite, Countess Blessington
23. You must work at the talent as a sculptor works at stone, chiselling, plotting, rounding, edging and making perfect —Dylan Thomas

all is fish that comes to his net A proverbial phrase describing the luck of one for whom nothing ever goes awry because of a seemingly innate ability to turn everything to profit. Most fishermen expect to discover undesirable animals or debris in their nets, but the fortuitous fisherman’s net overflows with valuable fish only. The expression is used of one with an extraordinary capacity to develop invariably successful schemes and make consistently lucrative financial investments.

green thumb An above-average ability to grow plants; the knack of successfully cultivating and propagating plants. This phrase and its variant green fingers date from the early 1900s. A “green thumb” is like a magic touch which encourages rapid growth. Although the phrase is usually heard in the context of gardening, it can apply to any innate ability to make things grow and prosper.

keep one’s hand in To keep in practice, to dabble in, to maintain one’s proficiency in a certain activity. The expression usually implies sporadic or intermittent interest and activity.

know one’s beans See KNOWLEDGE.

the Midas touch An uncanny ability to make money; entrepreneurial expertise. Midas, legendary king of Phrygia, was divinely granted the power to transform anything he touched to gold. The gods relieved Midas of his power when the king realized that everything he touched, including food and his daughter, changed to gold. Still in general use, this expression often describes the moneymaking abilities of an entrepreneur.

play a straight bat To know what you are doing, to know your business. This Briticism comes from the game of cricket.

to the manner born See STATUS.