I’m a little wounded, but I am not slain; I will lay me down to bleed a while. Then I’ll rise and fight again.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
Plodding wins the race.
—Aesop (620–564 BCE) Greek Fabulist
Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730–74) Irish Novelist, Playwright, Poet
The race is not [always] to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
As long as one keeps searching, the answers come.
—Joan Baez (b.1941) American Singer, Songwriter, Musician
I realized early on that success was tied to not giving up. Most people in this business gave up and went on to other things. If you simply didn’t give up, you would outlast the people who came in on the bus with you.
—Harrison Ford (b.1942) American Actor
Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
The great majority of men are bundles of beginnings.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
How many years you have to keep on doing, until you know what to do and how to do.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.
—Mother Teresa (1910–97) Roman Catholic Missionary, Nun
Everyone has his superstitions. One of mine has always been when I started to go anywhere, or to do anything, never to turn back or to stop until the thing intended was accomplished.
—Ulysses S. Grant (1822–85) American Civil War General, Head of State
There’s nothing in this world that comes easy. There are a lot of people who aren’t going to bother to win. We learn in football to get up and go once more.
—Woody Hayes (1913–87) American Sportsperson
Be of good cheer. Do not think of today’s failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
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
Saints are sinners who kept on going.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit.
—Bernard Williams (1929–2003) English Philosopher
The great thing and the hard thing is to stick to things when you have outlived the first interest, and not yet got the second, which comes with a sort of mastery.
—Janet Erskine Stuart (1857–1914) English Catholic Nun, Educationalist
I was taught that the way of progress is neither swift nor easy.
—Marie Curie (1867–1934) Polish-born French Physicist, Chemist
There is but one philosophy and its name is fortitude! To bear is to conquer our fate.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
Education is hanging around until you’ve caught on.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
I read my own books sometimes to cheer me when it is hard to write and then I remember that it was always difficult and how nearly impossible it was sometimes.
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American Author, Journalist, Short Story Writer
The secret of success is constancy of purpose.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Let no one till his death
Be called unhappy. Measure not the work
Until the day’s out and the labor done:
Then bring your gauges.
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–61) English Poet
Fear, desire, hope, still push us on toward the future.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Four steps to achievement: plan purposefully, prepare prayerfully, proceed positively, pursue persistently.
—William Arthur Ward (1921–94) American Author
In the game of life nothing is less important than the score at halftime.
—Unknown
No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
A winner never quits and a quitter never wins.
—Unknown
Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.
—George S. Patton (1885–1945) American Military Leader
What cannot be altered must be borne, not blamed.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
If something is boring after 2 minutes, try it for 4. If still boring, try it for 8, 16, 32, and so on. Eventually, one discovers that it is not boring, but very interesting.
—Zen Proverb Japanese School of Mahayana Buddhism
He that endureth to the end shall be saved.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
In the realm of ideas, everything depends on enthusiasm; in the real world, all rests on perseverance.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
As long as a person doesn’t admit he is defeated, he is not defeated – he’s just a little behind, and isn’t through fighting.
—Darrell Royal (1924–2012) American Football Player
Diamonds are only lumps of coal that stuck to their jobs.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
Keep on going and the chances are you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I have never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down.
—Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American Inventor, Entrepreneur, Businessperson
Every kind of fortune is to be overcome by bearing it.
—Virgil (70–19 BCE) Roman Poet
He turns not back who is bound to a star.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
If I had refused to institute a negotiation or had not persevered in it, I would have been degraded in my own estimation as a man of honor.
—John Adams (1735–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
Hold on with a bulldog grip, and chew and choke as much as possible.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won’t.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
Any man can work when every stroke of his hand brings down the fruit rattling from the tree to the ground; but to labor in season and out of season, under every discouragement, by the power of truth … that requires a heroism which is transcendent.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
Slow and steady wins the race.
—Aesop (620–564 BCE) Greek Fabulist
He never knew when. he was whipped … so he never was.
—Louis L’Amour (1908–88) American Novelist, Short-story Writer
Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall.
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730–74) Irish Novelist, Playwright, Poet
Without perseverance talent is a barren bed.
—Welsh Proverb
For me at least there came moments when faith wavered. But there is the great lesson and the great triumph: keep the fire burning until, by and by, out of the mass of sordid details there comes some result.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841–1935) American Jurist, Author
The big shots are only the little shots who keep shooting.
—Christopher Morley (1890–1957) American Novelist, Essayist