--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A lazy person, whatever the talents with…" description: "\"A lazy person, whatever the talents with which he set out, will have condemned himself to second-hand thoughts and to second-rate friends.\" — Cyril Con..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c1/cyril-connolly-1829_condemned_a-lazy-person-whatever-the-talents-with_2451809.png" --- # A lazy person, whatever the talents with which he set out… ![“A lazy person, whatever the talents with which he set out, will have condemned himself to second-hand thoughts and to second-rate friends.” quote by Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c1/cyril-connolly-1829_condemned_a-lazy-person-whatever-the-talents-with_2451809.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c1/cyril-connolly-1829_condemned_a-lazy-person-whatever-the-talents-with_2451809.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c1/cyril-connolly-1829_condemned_a-lazy-person-whatever-the-talents-with_2451809.png) > “A lazy person, whatever the talents with which he set out, will have condemned himself to second-hand thoughts and to second-rate friends.” [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A lazy individual squanders innate talents, ending up with mediocre ideas and acquaintances. **In simple terms:** Laziness leads to mediocrity. Key Takeaway Cultivate effort to realize potential. Themes laziness talent mediocrity Mood critical motivational Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - career planning - skill development - network building Key Concepts philosophy self‑improvement Questions to Reflect On - What habits hinder your growth? - How can you surround yourself with inspiring peers? A Different Perspective Hard work may not guarantee success without direction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Second hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/second-hand/) [Second rate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/second-rate/) ## Related quotes > [A lazy person, whatever the talents with which he starts out, have condemned himself to second-rate thoughts, and to second-rate friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/a-lazy-person-whatever-the-talents-with-which-he-starts-out-have/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“Thus, the lesson we should draw from these people is not that each person's talents are infinitely malleable or that they can be anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-o-clifton/thus-the-lesson-we-should-draw-from-these-people-is-not-that-each/) [Donald O. Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-o-clifton/) > [“Since each person's talents are enduring, you should spend a great deal of time and money selecting people properly in the first place. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-o-clifton/since-each-person-s-talents-are-enduring-you-should-spend-a-great/) [Donald O. Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-o-clifton/) > [“1. Each person's talents are enduring and unique. 2. Each person's greatest room for growth is in the areas of his or her greatest strength.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-o-clifton/1-each-person-s-talents-are-enduring-and-unique-2-each-person-s/) [Donald O. Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-o-clifton/) > [I am a very lazy person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/i-am-a-very-lazy-person/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [Now I'm a pretty lazy person and am prepared to work quite hard in order to avoid work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-fowler/now-i-m-a-pretty-lazy-person-and-am-prepared-to-work-quite-hard-in/) [Martin Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-fowler/) > [I'm basically a very lazy person who likes to get credit for things other people actually do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-torvalds/i-m-basically-a-very-lazy-person-who-likes-to-get-credit-for-things/) [Linus Torvalds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-torvalds/) > [I don't want to become this lazy person, a guy who thinks in terms of New Year's resolutions. I really do want to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-mills/i-don-t-want-to-become-this-lazy-person-a-guy-who-thinks-in-terms-of/) [Blake Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-mills/) > [I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/i-choose-a-lazy-person-to-do-a-hard-job-because-a-lazy-person-will/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Blame is just a lazy person's way of making sense of chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/blame-is-just-a-lazy-person-s-way-of-making-sense-of-chaos/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Deep down I'm a lazy person in a constantly moving body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-larue/deep-down-i-m-a-lazy-person-in-a-constantly-moving-body/) [Eva LaRue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-larue/) > [I should have directed more but I am a lazy person and have taken a backseat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randhir-kapoor/i-should-have-directed-more-but-i-am-a-lazy-person-and-have-taken-a/) [Randhir Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randhir-kapoor/) > [I assign the most difficult job to a lazy person,bcoz he will find an easier and much simpler way to do that job!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/i-assign-the-most-difficult-job-to-a-lazy-person-bcoz-he-will-find-an/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [I'm a typically lazy person. It is sort of characteristic of actors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liev-schreiber/i-m-a-typically-lazy-person-it-is-sort-of-characteristic-of-actors/) [Liev Schreiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liev-schreiber/) > [When faced with a difficult task, Hand it over to a Lazy Person. They'll fighure out an easier way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-watson/when-faced-with-a-difficult-task-hand-it-over-to-a-lazy-person-they/) [Toni Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-watson/) ## More by Cyril Connolly > [Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be read once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/literature-is-the-art-of-writing-something-that-will-be-read-twice/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [There is no fury like a woman searching for a new lover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/there-is-no-fury-like-a-woman-searching-for-a-new-lover/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Beautiful women must think about their beauty as capitalists think about their investments or politicians about their majorities; it is all they have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/beautiful-women-must-think-about-their-beauty-as-capitalists-think/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [We cannot be happy until we can love ourselves without egotism and our friends without tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/we-cannot-be-happy-until-we-can-love-ourselves-without-egotism-and/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [What grape to keep its place in the sun, taught our ancestors to make wine?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/what-grape-to-keep-its-place-in-the-sun-taught-our-ancestors-to-make/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/literature-is-the-art-of-writing-something-that-will-be-read-twice-2/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“Our memories are card-indexes consulted and then put back in disorder by authorities whom we do not control.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/our-memories-are-card-indexes-consulted-and-then-put-back-in-disorder/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Were I to deduce any system from my feelings on leaving Eton, it might be called The Theory of Permanent Adolescence. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/were-i-to-deduce-any-system-from-my-feelings-on-leaving-eton-it-might/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Failure on the other hand is infectious. The world is full of charming failures (for all charming people have something to conceal, usually their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/failure-on-the-other-hand-is-infectious-the-world-is-full-of-charming/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [The civilization of one epoch becomes the manure of the next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-civilization-of-one-epoch-becomes-the-manure-of-the-next/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [There is no more somber enemy of good art than the pram in the hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/there-is-no-more-somber-enemy-of-good-art-than-the-pram-in-the-hall/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [The true function of a writer is to produce a masterpiece and no other task is of any consequence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-true-function-of-a-writer-is-to-produce-a-masterpiece-and-no/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“We pay for vice by the knowledge that we are wicked; we pay for pleasure when we find out too late that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/we-pay-for-vice-by-the-knowledge-that-we-are-wicked-we-pay-for/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [The books I haven't written are better than the books other people have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-books-i-haven-t-written-are-better-than-the-books-other-people/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [If Montaigne is a man in the prime of life sitting in his study on a warm morning and putting down the sum of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/if-montaigne-is-a-man-in-the-prime-of-life-sitting-in-his-study-on-a/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) [Explore all 204 Cyril Connolly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) ## More Condemned quotes > [Whatever is not commonly seen is condemned as alien.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-chang/whatever-is-not-commonly-seen-is-condemned-as-alien/) [Iris Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-chang/) > [“And that’s the terrible myth of organized society. That everything that’s done through the established system is legal. And that word has a powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-m-kunstler/and-that-s-the-terrible-myth-of-organized-society-that-everything/) William M. Kunstler > [I think 'The Condemned' has a great story. It's a lot more than a mindless action flick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stone-cold-steve-austin/i-think-the-condemned-has-a-great-story-it-s-a-lot-more-than-a/) [Stone Cold Steve Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stone-cold-steve-austin/) > [At the end of our lives, we go before one judge, and the crimes you committed and man allowed you to walk free is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rashida-rowe/at-the-end-of-our-lives-we-go-before-one-judge-and-the-crimes-you/) [Rashida Rowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rashida-rowe/) > [“It is said that men condemned to death are subject to sudden moments of elation; as if, like moths in the fire, their destruction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/it-is-said-that-men-condemned-to-death-are-subject-to-sudden-moments/) [John le Carré](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [In the early days of the Russian Revolution in 1917, I was completely in sympathy with it. I felt that it established a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiang-kai-shek/in-the-early-days-of-the-russian-revolution-in-1917-i-was-completely/) [Chiang Kai-shek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiang-kai-shek/) > [“Those who do not learn the lessons of the past are condemned to repeat it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/those-who-do-not-learn-the-lessons-of-the-past-are-condemned-to/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Let us imagine a number of men in chains and all condemned to death, where some are killed each day in the sight of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/let-us-imagine-a-number-of-men-in-chains-and-all-condemned-to-death/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [He who cannot remember the past is condemned to remember the past. Or something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-palin/he-who-cannot-remember-the-past-is-condemned-to-remember-the-past-or/) [Sarah Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-palin/) > [It disturbs me when Obama says in the State of the Union address that he wants to make dropping out of school at 18…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-miller/it-disturbs-me-when-obama-says-in-the-state-of-the-union-address-that/) [Ezra Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-miller/) > [“Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. It is up to you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/man-is-condemned-to-be-free-because-once-thrown-into-the-world-he-is/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Jesus condemned no one except hypocrites.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kallistos-ware/jesus-condemned-no-one-except-hypocrites/) [Kallistos Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kallistos-ware/) > [“Release is not the same as liberation. You get out of jail, all right, but you never stop being condemned.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/release-is-not-the-same-as-liberation-you-get-out-of-jail-all-right/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“So there was no excuse; nothing whatever the matter, except the sin for which human nature had condemned him to death; that he did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/so-there-was-no-excuse-nothing-whatever-the-matter-except-the-sin-for/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“Condemned by your people. Opened the second. Condemned by yourself. Opened the third. To see who you were. Opened the fourth. To see who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-n-holmberg/condemned-by-your-people-opened-the-second-condemned-by-yourself/) [Charlie N. Holmberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-n-holmberg/) Browse all 109 Condemned quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A lazy person, whatever the talents with which he set out, will have condemned himself to second-hand thoughts and to second-rate friends.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cyril Connolly" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/a-lazy-person-whatever-the-talents-with-which-he-set-out-will-have/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Condemned" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/a-lazy-person-whatever-the-talents-with-which-he-set-out-will-have/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c1/cyril-connolly-1829_condemned_a-lazy-person-whatever-the-talents-with_2451809.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c1/cyril-connolly-1829_condemned_a-lazy-person-whatever-the-talents-with_2451809.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c1/cyril-connolly-1829_condemned_a-lazy-person-whatever-the-talents-with_2451809.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A lazy person, whatever the talents with which he set out, will have condemned himself to second-hand…” — Cyril Connolly", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Cyril Connolly", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A lazy person, whatever the talents...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/a-lazy-person-whatever-the-talents-with-which-he-set-out-will-have/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/a-lazy-person-whatever-the-talents-with-which-he-set-out-will-have/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```