The difficulties and struggles of today are but the price we must pay for the accomplishments and victories of tomorrow.
—William J. H. Boetcker (1873–1962) American Presbyterian Minister
Our energy is in proportion to the resistance it meets. We attempt nothing great but from a sense of the difficulties we have to encounter; we persevere in nothing great but from a pride in overcoming them.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
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
The first and final thing you have to do in this world is to last in it, and not be smashed by it.
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American Author, Journalist, Short Story Writer
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
Make haste slowly.
—Common Proverb
Plodding wins the race.
—Aesop (620–564 BCE) Greek Fabulist
Every kind of fortune is to be overcome by bearing it.
—Virgil (70–19 BCE) Roman Poet
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
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
The secret of success is constancy of purpose.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall.
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730–74) Irish Novelist, Playwright, Poet
You give 100 percent in the first half of the game, and if that isn’t enough, in the second half you give what’s left.
—Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American Sportsperson
This is courage in a man: to bear unflinchingly what heaven sends.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
Endure, and preserve yourselves for better things.
—Virgil (70–19 BCE) Roman Poet
It’s the steady, constant driving to the goal for which you’re striving, not the speed with which you travel, that will make your victory sure.
—Unknown
What can any of us do with his talent but try to develop his vision, so that through frequent failures we may learn better what we have missed in the past.
—William Carlos Williams (1883–1963) American Poet, Novelist, Cultural Historian
I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it,—but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
The tragedy of life is not that man loses,
but that he almost wins.
—Heywood Hale Broun (1918–2001) American Journalist, Commentator, Actor
All’s well that ends well.
—Common Proverb
I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged … I had poems which were rewritten so many times I suspect it was just a way of avoiding sending them out.
—Erica Jong (b.1942) American Novelist, Feminist
I’m hardnosed about luck. I think it sucks. Yeah, if you spend seven years looking for a job as a copywriter, and then one day somebody gives you a job, you can say, “Gee, I was lucky I happened to go up there today”. But dammit, I was going to go up there sooner or later in the next 70 years … If you’re persistent in trying and doing and working, you almost make your own fortune.
—Jerry Della Femina (b.1936) American Advertising Executive
We must endure what fortune sends.
—Greek Proverb
Never admit defeat.
—Arthur Rimbaud (1854–91) French Poet, Adventurer
Pray that success will not come any faster than you are able to endure it.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
We shall live to fight again, and to strike another blow.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.
—Beverly Sills (1929–2007) American Singer, Musician
Like ships, men flounder time and time again.
—Henry Miller (1891–1980) American Novelist
And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
In the game of life nothing is less important than the score at halftime.
—Unknown
Diamonds are only lumps of coal that stuck to their jobs.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.
—Dolly Parton (b.1946) American Musician, Actress
I may not be there yet, but I’m closer than I was yesterday.
—Unknown
There was a Texas Ranger one time who said that there’s no stopping a man who knows he’s in the right and keeps a-coming.
—Louis L’Amour (1908–88) American Novelist, Short-story Writer
Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance.—He that shall walk, with vigor, three hours a day, will pass, in seven years, a space equal to the circumference of the globe.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
To persevere, trusting in what hopes he has, is courage in a man. The coward despairs.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
Genius begins great works, labor alone finishes it.
—Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) French Writer, Moralist
Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The champ may have lost his stuff temporarily or permanently, he can’t be sure. When he can no longer throw his high hard one, he throws his heart instead. He throws something. He just doesn’t walk off the mound and weep.
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959) American Novelist
Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
Slow and steady wins the race.
—Aesop (620–564 BCE) Greek Fabulist
I bend, but I do not break.
—Jean de La Fontaine (1621–95) French Poet, Short Story Writer
A winner never quits and a quitter never wins.
—Unknown
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
If something doesn’t come up the way you want, you have to forge ahead.
—Clint Eastwood (b.1930) American Film Director, Film Producer, Film Actor
He that endureth to the end shall be saved.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
I hold a doctrine, to which I owe not touch, indeed, but all the little I ever had, namely, that with ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable.
—Sir Thomas Buxton, 1st Baronet (1786–1845) English Politician, Social Reformer
To be happy, drop the words “if only” and substitute instead the words “next time.”
—Smiley Blanton
Genius is often only the power of making continuous efforts. The line between failure and success is so fine that we scarcely know when we pass it—so fine that we are often on the line and do not know it. How many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more patience, would have achieved success. As the tide goes clear out, so it comes clear in. In business sometimes prospects may seem darkest when really they are on the turn. A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success. There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent weakness of purpose.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher