I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

-Bible (Old Testament)
Ecclesiastes 9:11

My Sword, I give to him that shall succeed me in my Pilgrimage, and my Courage and Skill, to himthat can get it. My Marks and Scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me, that Ihave fought his Battles, who now will be my Rewarder† As he went, he said,Death, where is thy Sting? And as he went down deeper, he said,Grave where is thy Victory? So he passed over, and the Trumpets sounded for him on the other side.

-Bunyan,John
  Mr Valiant-for-Glory. The Pilgrim's Progress, pt.2.

Whatevereachmancanseparatelydo, withouttrespassing upon others, he has a right to dofor himself; and he has a right to a fair portion of all whichsociety, with all its combination of skill and force, can do in his favour.

-Burke, Edmund
  Reflections on the Revolution in France.

Mr Lely, I desire you would use all your skill to paint my picture truly like me, and not flatter me at all; but remark all these roughnesses, pimples, warts, and everything as you see me, otherwise I will never paya farthing for it.

-Cromwell, Oliver
  Remark to Sir Peter Lely, who was about to paint his portrait. Quoted in H  Walpole Anecdotes of Painting in England, vol.3 (1763).

Skill comes so slow, and life so fast doth fly, We learn so little and forget so much.

-Davies, SirJohn
  Nosce Teipsum, stanza19.

There'snoskill involved.Just goup thereand swing atthe ball.

-DiMaggio,Joe (Joseph Paul)
Of baseball. Quoted in Colin  Jarman The Guinness Dictionary of Sports Quotations (1990).

Some weigh their pleasure by their lust, Their wisdom by their rage of will, Their treasure is their only trust; And cloake'  d craft their store of skill. But all the pleasure that I find Is to maintain a quiet mind.

-Dyer, Sir Edward
  'In Praise of a Contented Mind'.

Despite what even manyartists appear to believe, art is not and should not be merelya skill. It should actually be completelyand utterly the language of our feelings, our frame of mind; indeed, even of our devotion and our prayers.

-Friedrich, Caspar David
Quoted in Caspar David Friedrich1774^1840, Tate Gallery (1972).

Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.

-Hoffer, Eric
USradical activist andwriter. In1968 he helpedorganize violent anti-Vietnam    war    demonstrations    in    Chicago,    and    was prominent in the 'Chicago Seven' trial in 1969.  He was  active in public demonstrations until1986.

Asthe eaglewas killed by thearrow wingedwith its own feather, so the hand of the world is wounded by its own skill.

-Keller, Helen Adams
  In the American Magazine, Dec.

Literature is not an abstract science, to which exact definitions can be applied.It is an Art rather, the success of which depends on personal persuasiveness, on the author's skill to give as on ours to receive.

-Quiller-Couch, SirArthurThomas known as  'Q'
  Inaugural lecture as Professor of English at Cambridge University.

'Form follows profit' is the aesthetic principle of our times. Thus, design skill is measured today by the architect's ability to build the largest possible enclosure for the smallest investment in the quickest time.

-Rogers, Richard George Rogers, Baron
  22nd annualWalter Neurath lecture. Collected in Architecture: a ModernView.

We have the menöthe skillöthe wealthöand above all, the will† We must be the great arsenal of democracy.

-Roosevelt, Franklin D(elano)
  'Fireside chat'radio broadcast, 29 Dec.

   I was born for opera buffa, as well Thou knowest. Little skill, a little heart, and that is all. So beThou blessed and admit me to Paradise.

-Rossini, Gioacchino Antonio
 Manuscript inscription on the score of his 'Petite Messe Solennelle'.

There is a formal poetry perfect only in form†the number of syllables, the designated and required stresses of accent, the rhymes if wantedöthey come off with the skill of a solved crossword puzzle.

-Sandburg, Carl
Quoted inTheComplete Poems of Carl Sandburg (1986),'Notes for a Preface'.

Better than all measures Of delightful sound, Better than all treasures That in books are found, Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground!

-Shelley, Percy Bysshe
  'To a Skylark', stanza 21.

[This] much curse I must send you, in the behalf of all poets, that while you live, you live in love, and never get favour for lacking skill of a sonnet, and, when you die, your memorydie fromthe earth for want of an epigraph.

-Sidney, Sir Philip
  The Defence of Poetry.

   It requires less skill to love than to be loved.

-Skelton, Robin
A Devious Dictionary.

The greatest improvement in the productive powers of labour, and the greater part of the skill, dexterity and judgement with which it is any where directed, as applied, seem to have been the effects of the division of labour.

-Smith, Adam
  An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of theWealth of Nations, bk.1, ch.1.