Beware of Your Talents

One of my favorite and thought-provoking philosophers, Krishnamurti, in his book, Inward Revolutions, writes:

If you have a talent, beware of it, because it gives you an opportunity to develop your own desire for power, position, prestige. You have noticed it, haven’t you? A man who has a talent, a gift, whether on the piano, or with words, or in politics, or whatever it is, uses that talent to become somebody. Haven’t you noticed all these things? If a man is tremendously well-known because he is a violinist, and you remove that violin, he is nobody. So a person who would find what truth is must be very aware of his talent and not misuse it. He must use that talent with great humility. Humility is never to climb the ladder of success, never to be ‘somebody’ in this world. When you have that humility, then talent is not a danger.

The beautiful photograph is from my professional photographer friend, Jorgen Klausen’s “Mask” series.