through application

"'It's strange. No one behaves worse or talks more balls than Norman [Mailer], but he's widely liked . . . The question remains. Why don't Jews drink?'

"'Well, it's the same with Jewish achievement in general,' said Saul [Bellow] (as his drink arrived). And that achievement is disproportionate. [Albert] Einstein put it pretty well. The great error is to think it's somehow innate. That way anti-Semitism lies. It isn't innate. It's to do with how you're raised. All good Jewish children know that the way to impress their elders is through application. Not sports, not physical strength or physical beauty, and not the arts. Through learning and studying.'"

~~ from Inside Story: A Novel by Martin Amis