From Hugh MacLeod, on gapingvoidart.com:

There’s a reason why it’s called “talent”: Because it’s valuable and rare. If it wasn’t, they’d call it something else.

And secondly, just because you’re talented, doesn’t mean you don’t have to work as hard. Actually, you probably have to work twice as hard, maybe more.

Why? Because the more talented you are, the more rewarded you get, the more people notice.