If I were asked to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice for all humanity it would be this: Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and when it comes, hold you head high, look it squarely in the eye and say, “I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.”
—Ask Ann Landers (1918–2002) American Advice Columnist
Don’t halt before you are lame.
—English Proverb
We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
You’ve got to say, “I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it.” It’s called perseverance.
—Lee Iacocca (1924–2019) American Businessperson
Success requires persistence, the ability to not give up in the face of failure. I believe that optimistic explanatory style is the key to persistence.
—Martin Seligman (b.1942) American Psychologist, Author
He conquers who endures.
—Persius (34–62 CE) Roman Satirist
Illegitimis non carborundum.
—Joseph Stilwell (1883–1946) American Army General
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 Writer, Poet, Novelist, Short Story Author
Many strokes overthrow the tallest oaks.
—John Lyly (1554–1606) English Dramatist, Novelist, Writer
Champions keep playing until they get it right.
—Billie Jean King (b.1943) American Tennis Player
Lots of people limit their possibilities by giving up easily. Never tell yourself this is too much for me. It’s no use. I can’t go on. If you do you’re licked, and by your own thinking too. Keep believing and keep on keeping on.
—Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American Clergyman, Self-Help Author
LIFE’S MIRROR
There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave,
There are souls that are pure and true,
Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best will come back to you.
Give love, and love to your life will flow,
A strength in your utmost need,
Have faith, and a score of hearts will show
Their faith in your word and deed.
Give truth, and your gift will be paid in kind;
And honor will honor meet;
And a smile that is sweet will surely find
A smile that is just as sweet.
Give pity and sorrow to those who mourn,
You will gather in flowers again
The scattered seeds from your thoughts outborne
Though the sowing seemed but vain.
For life is the mirror of king and slave,
‘Tis just what we are and do;
Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best will come back to you.
—Mary Ainge de Vere (Madeline S. Bridges) (1844–1920) American Poet, Author
The Extra Mile will have no traffic jams.
—Unknown
Never give up, never give in, and when the upper hand is ours, may we have the ability to handle the win with the dignity that we absorbed the loss.
—Doug Williams (b.1955) American Sportsperson, Football Executive
Persistence prevails, like a stream that is temporarily blocked by boulders and then collects force enough to overflow onward.
—Vernon Howard (1918–92) American Author, Philosopher
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
As long as we are persistence in our pursuit of our deepest destiny, we will continue to grow. We cannot choose the day or time when we will fully bloom. It happens in its own time.
—Denis Waitley (b.1933) American Motivational Speaker, Author
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
Few things are impracticable in themselves; and it is for want of application, rather than of means, that men fail of success.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
Diamonds are only lumps of coal that stuck to their jobs.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
The big shots are only the little shots who keep shooting.
—Christopher Morley (1890–1957) American Novelist, Essayist
Every blade of grass has its Angel that bends over it and whispers, Grow, Grow”.”
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
We deem those happy who from the experience of life have learned to bear its ills, without being overcome by them.
—Juvenal (c.60–c.136 CE) Roman Poet
This I do know beyond any reasonable doubt. Regardless of what you are doing, if you pump long enough, hard enough and enthusiastically enough, sooner or later the effort will bring forth the reward.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
When I thought I couldn’t go on, I forced myself to keep going. My success is based on persistence, not luck.
—Norman Lear (b.1922) American TV Personality
Good things come to those who wait, but they are left-overs from those who hustle.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
I hate the giving of the hand unless the whole man accompanies it.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
If I had to select one quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I would pick the trait of persistence. Determination. The will to endure to the end, to get knocked down seventy times and get up off the floor saying, “Here comes number seventy-one!”
—Richard DeVos (1926–2018) American Businessman, Philanthropist
My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
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