Once Joe E. Brown, a famed actor and comedian, was entertaining a large group of soldiers. Every time he wanted to stop they screamed for him to go on. Finally, a lad called out "Hey, Joe, tell us some dirty stories!" The silence was so deep you could have heard a pin drop. The boys looked at Joe, who waited for a minute, and then forgetting his role as a comedian, he spoke to those lads as he would to his own sons:

"Listen, you kids, I’ve been on stage since I was 10. I’ve told all kinds of jokes to all kinds of people, but I’m proud that in all that time I’ve never had to stoop to a dirty joke to get a laugh. I know some dirty stories, kids; I’ve heard plenty of them in my life. But I made a rule a long time ago that I’d never tell a story that I wouldn’t want my mother to hear me telling."

As he finished these stirring sentences, the biggest and noisest applause he had ever heard anywhere broke loose. For several minutes they shouted and clappped their approval, with the lad who had asked for the dirty story joining in the applause. That was not the end of the incident. The boys wrote home to thier parents, who in turn wrote their thanks to Joe. Some wrote: "I’m going to pray every night for what you’ve done for my boy".

Talent is born, but musicians are made

The great violinist Isaac Stern was asked, "Is talent born?" The question was in reference to an outstanding performance by Isaac Stern himself. He responded, "yes, talent is born, but musicians are made." It takes an incredible amount of discipline, hardwork, and talent to become a great musican. No matter how great that talent or the field of endeavour, unless the individual is personally disciplined, much of the potential will remain just that—potential.