<p>Obviously not since Fields medal is awarded only every four years, so very few are honored in this way. Besides, I get the impression that many people here just throw around phrase “hard work” without understanding how difficult it is to actually commit to something much enough to achieve greatness. It’s a great sacrifice and commitment. It’s being focused on some particular subject, very often for one’s lifetime. It’s not going to class three days a week. Do not misunderstand the concept. If you can find the desire to work that hard then yes, you can be an outstanding musician or scientist. </p>
<p>I read somewhere some time ago that Michael Phelphs has a good body proportions for swimming. It’s ridiculous. There’s not even a little bit of talent in him. There’s will to swim 75 kilometers in a week (as he did before 2004 Olympics) or train so hard that you just can’t help but throw up afterwards.
There’s no being talented cyclist. Lance Armstrong simply busted his ass off before achieving anything significant. And it’s generally a rule that applies to all sportsmen. </p>
<p>J.R.R. Tolkien did not just come up with Middle Earth and all its inhabitants. Milton Friedman or John Keynes were not just talented in economics. No Fields medal or Noble prize winner was born with a special gift or ability. They just had a great passion for what they did, which made them work as hard as they did. To say simply that they achieved all that is equal to insulting them and their enormous effort. Wasn’t it for their labor they would have been forgotten by the history.</p>
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<p>Can you be great at something without working hard? No, you can’t. So either there is no such thing as talent or it is irrelevant.</p>