Quotes from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

Ben Carson ·  224 pages

Rating: (12.9K votes)


“Success is determined not by whether or not you face obstacles, but by your reaction to them. And if you look at these obstacles as a containing fence, they become your excuse for failure. If you look at them as a hurdle, each one strengthens you for the next.”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“Successful people don't have fewer problems. They have determined that nothing will stop them from going forward.”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“To THINK BIG and to use our talents doesn't mean we won't have difficulties along the way. We will--we all do. If we choose to see the obstacles in our path as barriers, we stop trying. "We can't win," we moan. "They won't let us win.”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“...I became acutely aware of an unusual ability--a divine gift, I believe--of extraordinary eye and hand coordination. It’s my belief that God gives us all gifts, special abilities that we have the privilege of developing to help us serve Him and humanity. And the gift of eye and hand coordination has been an invaluable asset in surgery. This gift goes beyond eye-hand coordination, encompassing the ability to understand physical relationships, to think in three dimensions. Good surgeons must understand the consequences of each action, for they’re often not able to see what’s happening to see on the other side of the area in which the area they’re actually working.”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“I'm a good neurosugeon. That's not a boast but a way of acknowledging the innate ability God has given to me. Beginning with determination and using my gifted hands, I went on for training and sharpening for my skills. ”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story



“Do what you have to do so that you can be what you want to be”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“I came to realize that if people could make me angry they could could control me. Why should I give someone else such power over my life?”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“It's not what you do but that kind of job you do that makes the difference.”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“By reading so much, my vocabulary automatically improved along with my comprehension.”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“if you can read, honey, you can learn just about anything you want to know. The doors of the world are open to people who can read. And”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story



“One reason I didn’t hold any grudges or harsh feelings toward Dad must have been that my mother seldom blamed him—at least not to us or in our hearing. I can hardly think of a time when she spoke against him.”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“No one ever said, “This isn’t the way normal people live.” Again, I think it was the sense of family unity, strengthened by the Averys, that kept me from being too concerned about the quality of our life in Boston.”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city” (RSV).”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“The culture in which we live stresses looking out for number one. Without adopting such a self-centered value system, we can demand the best of ourselves while we are extending our hands to help others.”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“close the wounds, and the 22-hour surgical ordeal was over. The Siamese”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story



“being a member of a minority race doesn’t mean being a minority achiever.”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“Abraham Lincoln once said, “All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my mother.”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“No knowledge is ever wasted. To quote the apostle Paul: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28).”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“70,000 to 100,000 births; twins joined at the head occur only once in 2 to 2.5 million births. Siamese twins received their name because of the birthplace (Siam) of Chang and Eng (1811 - 1874) whom P.T. Barnum exhibited across America and Europe. Most cranio pagus Siamese twins die at birth or shortly afterward. So far as we know, not more than 50 attempts had previously been made to separate such twins. Of those, less than ten operations have resulted in two fully normal children. Aside from the skill of the operating surgeons, the success depends largely on how much and what kind of tissue the babies share. Occipital cranio pugus twins (such as the Binders) had never before been separated with both surviving.”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“Successful people don’t have fewer problems. They have determined that nothing will stop them from going forward.”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story



“when the Vietnamese came to the United States they often faced prejudice from everyone—White, Black, and Hispanics. But they didn’t beg for handouts and often took the lowest jobs offered. Even well-educated individuals didn’t mind sweeping floors if it was a paying job. Today many of these same Vietnamese are property owners and entrepreneurs. That’s the message I try to get across to the young people. The same opportunities are there, but we can’t start out as vice president of the company. Even if we landed such a position, it wouldn’t do us any good anyway because we wouldn’t know how to do our work. It’s better to start where we can fit in and then work our way up.”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“I can tolerate amazing amounts of stress and ridicule. By God’s grace, it still doesn’t require any effort to shake off unpleasant, irritating things. God has helped me to conquer my terrible temper, once and forever. During those hours in the bathroom I also came to realize that if people could make me angry they could control me. Why should I give someone else such power over my life? Over the years I’ve chuckled at people who deliberately did things they thought would make me angry. I’m no better than anyone else, but I laugh inside at how foolish people can be, trying to make me angry.”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“God has an overall plan for people’s lives and the details get worked out along the way, even though we usually have no idea what’s going on.”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“sure. I know I hated it when a resident disregarded a”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“Craig is not yours that you should demand to keep him. He doesn’t belong to you, Susan. He is mine.”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story



“I sank down on the toilet, sharp mental pictures of other temper fits filling my mind. I saw my anger, clenched my fists against my rage. I wouldn’t be any good for anything if I couldn’t change. My poor mother, I thought. She believes in me. Not even she knows how bad I am. Misery engulfed me in darkness. “If you don’t do this for me, God, I’ve got no place else to go.” At one point I’d slipped out of the bathroom long enough to grab a Bible. Now I opened it and”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“go on hating myself forever for all the terrible things I’d done. I sank down on the toilet, sharp mental pictures of other temper fits filling my mind. I saw my anger, clenched my fists against my rage. I wouldn’t be any good for anything if I couldn’t change. My poor mother, I thought. She believes in me. Not even she knows how bad I am. Misery engulfed me in darkness. “If you don’t do this for me, God, I’ve got no place else to go.” At one point I’d slipped out of the bathroom long enough to grab a Bible. Now I opened it and began”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“began to read in Proverbs. Immediately I saw a string of verses about angry people and how they get themselves into trouble. Proverbs 16:32 impressed me the most: “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city” (RSV). My lips moved wordlessly as I continued to read. I felt as though the verses had been written just to me, for me. The words of Proverbs condemned me, but they also gave me hope. After a while peace begin to fill my mind. My hands stopped shaking. The tears stopped. During those hours alone in the bathroom,”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


“something happened to me. God heard my deep cries of anguish. A feeling of lightness flowed over me, and I knew a change of heart had taken place. I felt different. I was different. At last I stood up, placed the Bible on the edge of the tub, and went to the sink. I washed my face and hands, straightened my clothes. I walked out of the bathroom a changed young man. “My temper will never control me again,” I told myself. “Never again. I’m free.” And since that day, since those long hours wrestling with myself and crying to God for help, I have never had a problem with my temper. That”
― Ben Carson, quote from Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story


About the author

Ben Carson
Born place: in Detroit, The United States
Born date September 18, 1951
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Things take care of themselves  as long as you trust and don't try to control too much. Things will happen. Things tend to occur. Why resist what's inevitable? That's like swimming against the current, salmon notwithstanding. Go with the flow, you know? Glide with the glow, man. It's easier.”
― Tony Vigorito, quote from Just a Couple of Days


“All this red tape and form-filling. That’s what comes of a bureaucratic state. Can’t go where you like and do as you please anymore! Somebody’s always asking questions.”
― Agatha Christie, quote from 4:50 from Paddington


“When things are good in your life, take the time to build and fortify your relationship with the Lord. Never become complacent about your relationship with Him, because there’s always room to grow DEEPER!”
― Stormie Omartian, quote from The Power of a Praying Woman


“And didn’t we pledge, pledge, pledge, palms on our chests, every day we lived, pledge to the one nation, the freedom we believed in, didn’t we? Fat lot of good.”
― Naomi Shihab Nye, quote from Honeybee: Poems Short Prose


“Ah yes, the people concerned. That is very important. You remember, perhaps, who they were?’

Depleach considered.

‘Let me see-it’s a long time ago. There were only five people who were really in it, so to speak-I’m not counting the servants-a couple of faithful old things, scared-looking creatures-they didn’t know anything about anything. No one could suspect them.’

‘There are five people, you say. Tell me about them.’

‘Well, there was Philip Blake. He was Crale’s greatest friend-had known him all his life. He was staying in the house at the time.He’s alive. I see him now and again on the links. Lives at St George’s Hill. Stockbroker. Plays the markets and gets away with it. Successful man, running to fat a bit.’

‘Yes. And who next?’

‘Then there was Blake’s elder brother. Country squire-stay at home sort of chap.’

A jingle ran through Poirot’s head. He repressed it. He mustnot always be thinking of nursery rhymes. It seemed an obsession with him lately. And yet the jingle persisted.

‘This little pig went to market, this little pig stayed at home…’

He murmured:

‘He stayed at home-yes?’

‘He’s the fellow I was telling you about-messed about with drugs-and herbs-bit of a chemist. His hobby. What was his name now? Literary sort of name-I’ve got it. Meredith. Meredith Blake. Don’t know whether he’s alive or not.’

‘And who next?’

‘Next? Well, there’s the cause of all the trouble. The girl in the case. Elsa Greer.’

‘This little pig ate roast beef,’ murmured Poirot.

Depleach stared at him.

‘They’ve fed her meat all right,’ he said. ‘She’s been a go-getter. She’s had three husbands since then. In and out of the divorce court as easy as you please. And every time she makes a change, it’s for the better. Lady Dittisham-that’s who she is now. Open anyTatler and you’re sure to find her.’

‘And the other two?’

‘There was the governess woman. I don’t remember her name. Nice capable woman. Thompson-Jones-something like that. And there was the child. Caroline Crale’s half-sister. She must have been about fifteen. She’s made rather a name for herself. Digs up things and goes trekking to the back of beyond. Warren-that’s her name. Angela Warren. Rather an alarming young woman nowadays. I met her the other day.’

‘She is not, then, the little pig who cried Wee Wee Wee…?’

Sir Montague Depleach looked at him rather oddly. He said drily:

‘She’s had something to cry Wee-Wee about in her life! She’s disfigured, you know. Got a bad scar down one side of her face. She-Oh well, you’ll hear all about it, I dare say.’

Poirot stood up. He said:

‘I thank you. You have been very kind. If Mrs Crale didnot kill her husband-’

Depleach interrupted him:

‘But she did, old boy, she did. Take my word for it.’

Poirot continued without taking any notice of the interruption.

‘Then it seems logical to suppose that one of these five people must have done so.’

‘One of themcould have done it, I suppose,’ said Depleach, doubtfully. ‘But I don’t see why any of themshould. No reason at all! In fact, I’m quite sure none of themdid do it. Do get this bee out of your bonnet, old boy!’

But Hercule Poirot only smiled and shook his head.”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Five Little Pigs


Interesting books

Vengeance Road
(6.3K)
Vengeance Road
by Erin Bowman
Dear Bridget, I Want You
(8K)
Dear Bridget, I Want...
by Penelope Ward
Red Dragon:
(219.6K)
Red Dragon:
by Thomas Harris
You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life
(54K)
You Are a Badass: Ho...
by Jen Sincero
Danny: The Champion of the World
(48.2K)
Danny: The Champion...
by Roald Dahl
Twisted Twosome
(2.3K)
Twisted Twosome
by Meghan Quinn

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.