Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
—Common Proverb
You can surmount the obstacles in your path if you are determined, courageous and hard-working. Never be fainthearted. Be resolute, but never bitter … Permit no one to dissuade you from pursuing the goals you set for yourselves. Do not fear to pioneer, to venture down new paths of endeavor.
—Ralph Bunche (1903–71) American Political Scientist, Diplomat
To believe a business impossible is the way to make it so. How many feasible projects have miscarried through despondency, and been strangled in their birth by a cowardly imagination.
—Jeremy Collier (1650–1726) English Anglican Theater Critic, Theologian
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Courage has genius, power, and magic in it. Only engage, and then the mind grows heated. Begin it and the work is completed.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?
—Vincent van Gogh (1853–90) Dutch Painter