I’ve spent a lot of time trying to collect useful wisdom that I could share in short, inspiring phrases. In this post I’ve summed up quotes about perseverance that reflect best what I think the concept is about.
Under each inspirational quote you can find the author and the source of the quote. Scroll down to browse them all.
Quotes about Perseverance
Here are 6 pieces of writing wisdom from some of the greatest authors of all time. I’ll continue to update this section for more quotes:
I.
Politician Theodore Roosevelt about someone who is out there fighting the battle, as opposed to someone sitting on the sidelines and watching:
‘It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.’
Source: Theodore Roosevelt in his speech Citizenship in a republic, at the Sorbonne in Paris, on April 23, 1910.
II.
Dancer Martha Graham reminds us of the ‘vitality’ within each person that, when nurtured, can lead to meaningful progress:
‘There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open… No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatsoever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.’
Source: Martha Graham in Martha: The Life and Work of Martha Graham by Agnes De Mille. p. 264.
III.
Chinese writer and literary critic Lu Xun on the power of hope:
“Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.”
Source: Lu Xun in The Wisdom of China (1944) ‘Epigrams of Lusin’. Also cited in the Tiny Bits Newsletter.
IV.
Martial artist, actor, and filmmaker Bruce Lee encourage us to be flexible, to adjust to situations, and overcome obstacles by flowing around them, just like water does:
“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.
Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
Source: Bruce Lee in an interview with Pierre Berton in 1971.
V.
Music producer Rick Rubin about the importance of patience while making creative work:
‘Patience is developed much like awareness. Through the appreciation of what is. Impatience is an argument with reality. The desire for something to be different from what we are experiencing in the here and now.
Time is something we have no control over. So patience begins with acceptance of natural rhythms. The implied benefits of impatience is to save time by speeding up and skipping ahead to those rhythms. Paradoxically, this ends up taking more time and using more energy. It’s wasted effort.’
Source: Rick Rubin in The Creative Act.
VI.
Basketball player Michael Jordan reminds us how perseverance involves continuously putting in the work even when things don’t go as planned:
‘I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.’
Source: Michael Jordan
Last note
I always take great pleasure in hand-picking these inspirational quotes for you. In the Tiny Bits newsletter, I share a thoughtful and inspirational quote every month, as I’ve collected many of them along the way. Sign up for this newsletter if you haven’t yet.
