As in the case of making a mound, if, before the very last basketful, I stop, then I shall have stopped. As in the case of leveling the ground, if, though tipping only one basketful, I am going forward, then I shall be making progress.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
Don’t be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones tend to take care of themselves.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
You go back to the gym and you just do it again and again until you get it right.
—Arnold Schwarzenegger (b.1947) Austrian-American Athlete, Actor, Politician
There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) American Poet, Journalist
Commerce is a game of skill, which every man cannot play, which few men can play well. The right merchant is one who has the just average of faculties we call commonsense; a man of strong affinity for facts, who makes up his decision on what he has seen. He is thoroughly persuaded of the truths of arithmetic. There is always a reason, in the man, for his good or bad fortune; and so, in making money. Men talk as if there were some magic about this, and believe in magic, in all parts of life. He knows that all goes on the old road, pound for pound, cent for cent-for every effect a perfect cause-and that good luck is another name for tenacity of purpose.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
But the moment you turn a corner you see another straight stretch ahead and there comes some further challenge to your ambition.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841–1935) American Jurist, Author
The longer I live, the more deeply am I convinced that that which makes the difference between one man and another—between the weak and powerful, the great and insignificant, is energy—invisible determination—a purpose once formed, and then death or victory.—This quality will do anything that is to be done in the world; and no talents, no circumstances, no opportunities will make one a man without it.
—Sir Thomas Buxton, 1st Baronet (1786–1845) English Politician, Social Reformer
Persistence is the master virtue. Without it, there is no other.
—Unknown
We pray to you, O God … for strength, determination, and willpower, to do instead of just to pray, to become instead of merely to wish.
—Harold Kushner (b.1935) American Jewish Religious Leader, Priest
Character is built into the spiritual fabric of personality hour by hour, day by day, year by year in much the same deliberate way that physical health is built into the body.
—E. Lamar Kincaid (1924–2014) American Protestant Minister
Sure I am of this, that you have only to endure to conquer. You have only to persevere to save yourselves.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew to serve your turn long after they are gone, and so hold on when there is nothing in you except the will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
—Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) British Children’s Books Writer, Short story, Novelist, Poet, Journalist
It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
Zeal without knowledge is like expedition to a man in the dark.
—John Newton (1725–1807) English Clergyman, Writer
Let us only suffer any person to tell us his story, morning and evening, but for one twelve-month, and he will become our master.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
There is no sudden leap into the stratosphere. There is only advancing step by step, slowly and tortuously, up the pyramid towards your goals.
—Ben Stein (b.1944) American Lawyer, Writer, Economist, Humorist
There are two ways of attaining an important end-force and perseverance. Force falls to the lot only of the privileged few, but austere and sustained perseverance can be practised by the most insignificant.
—Sophie Swetchine (1782–1857) Russian Mystic, Writer
Before success comes in any man’s life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat, and, perhaps, some failure. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to quit. That is exactly what the majority of men do. More than five hundred of the most successful men this country has ever known told the author their greatest came just one step *beyond* the point at which defeat had overtaken them.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
I am not the smartest or most talented person in the world, but I succeeded because I keep going, and going, and going.
—Sylvester Stallone (b.1946) American Actor, Screenwriter, Director
A jug fills drop by drop.
—Buddhist Teaching
Make haste slowly.
—Common Proverb
I’ve got a woman’s ability to stick to a job and get on with it when everyone else walks off and leaves it.
—Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British Head of State
In commitment, we dash the hopes of a thousand potential selves.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
How you start is important, very important, but in the end it is how you finish that counts. It is easier to be a self-starter than a self-finisher. The victor in the race is not the one who dashes off swiftest but the one who leads at the finish. In the race for success, speed is less important than stamina. The sticker outlasts the sprinter in life’s race. In America we breed many hares but not so many tortoises.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
Success in the majority of circumstances depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed.
—Montesquieu (1689–1755) French Political Philosopher, Jurist
Be strong!
It matters not how deep entrenched the wrong
How hard the battle goes, the day how long
Faint not – fight on! Tomorrow comes the song.
—Maltbie Davenport Babcock (1858–1901) American Presbyterian Minister, Writer
For all things difficult to acquire, the intelligent man works with perseverance.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
Do not quit! Hundreds of times I have watched people throw in the towel at the one-yard line while someone else comes along and makes a fortune by just going that extra yard.
—E. Joseph Cossman
He never knew when. he was whipped … so he never was.
—Louis L’Amour (1908–88) American Novelist, Short-story Writer