Let a man with perseverance abstain from doing evil deeds, like person who, not being blind, avoids the uneven roads.
—Buddhist Teaching
Slumps are like a soft bed. They’re easy to get into and hard to get out of.
—Johnny Bench (b.1947) American Sportsperson
I’ve always made a total effort, even when the odds seemed entirely against me. I never quit trying; I never felt that I didn’t have a chance to win.
—Arnold Palmer (b.1929) American Sportsperson
When you begin your transcendental training, focusing your best efforts, without attachment to outcomes, you will understand the peaceful warrior’s way.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
Some people dream of success, while others wake up and work hard at it.
—Unknown
Concentration, Confidence, Competitive urge, Capacity for enjoyment.
—Arnold Palmer (b.1929) American Sportsperson
You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it, however.
—Richard Bach (b.1936) American Novelist, Aviator
The fact is, nothing comes; at least, nothing good. All has to be fetched.
—Charles Buxton
A winner never stops trying.
—Tom Landry (1924–2000) American Sportsperson
The preparations were elaborate and mammoth in scale, and Washington threw himself into the effort, demanding that not an hour be lost.
—David McCullough (b.1933) American Historian
The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.
—Vince Lombardi (1913–70) American Sportsperson
You know, the greatest epitaph in the country is here in Arizona. Its in Tombstone, Ariz. , and this epitaph says, Here lies Jack Williams. He done his damndest. I think that is the greatest epitaph a man could have. Whenever a man does the best he can, then that is all he can do; and that is what your President has been trying to do for the last 3 years for this country.
—Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) American Head of State
Winning is not everything, but the effort to win is.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
You’re neither right nor wrong because other people agree with you. You’re right because your facts are right and your reasoning is right—and that’s the only thing that makes you right. And if your facts and reasoning are right, you don’t have to worry about anybody else.
—Warren Buffett (b.1930) American Investor
Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) American Head of State, Lawyer
The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting in above-average effort.
—Colin Powell (b.1937) American Military Leader
Let not a man waste his day and night from more on less benefit. The more he wastes, the more his life meets with emptiness.
—Buddhist Teaching
He can safeguard his wealth who is industrious, careful, clever at managing the affairs and moderate in his mode of living.
—Buddhist Teaching
There has never yet been a man in our history who led a life of ease whose name is worth remembering.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Explorer
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Explorer
Wise to resolve, patient to perform.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand.
—Baruch Spinoza (1632–77) Dutch Philosopher
A hundred years of a person who is lazy and inactive is not worth one day of him who has a strong effort.
—Buddhist Teaching
The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work.
—Arthur Brisbane (1864–1936) American Journalist, Editor
I’ve got a theory that if you give 100 percent all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.
—Larry Bird (b.1956) American Sportsperson
There is only one situation I can think of in which men and women make an effort to read better than they usually do. [It is] when they are in love and reading a love letter.
—Mortimer J. Adler (1902–2001) American Philosopher, Educator, Author
The whole effort of a sincere man is to erect his personal impressions into laws.
—Remy de Gourmont (1858–1915) French Poet, Novelist, Critic
The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.
—Vidal Sassoon (1928–2012) Anglo-American Hairstylist, Businessman
If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.
—Common Proverb
Great works are done when one is not calculating and thinking.
—D. T. Suzuki (1870–1966) Japanese Buddhist Philosopher
You get the best out of others when you give the best of yourself.
—Harvey Samuel Firestone (1868–1938) American Businessperson
When a man does not reckon the heat and cold more than the grass (does), he is sure to be rewarded with happiness in the long run.
—Buddhist Teaching
Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it nothing great was ever achieved.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
It is vain to do with more what can be done with less.
—William of Ockham (1288–1347) English Philosopher, Theologian
Avoid fragmentation: Find your focus and seek simplicity. Purposeful living calls for elegant efficiency and economy of effort—expanding the minimum time and energy necessary to achieve desired goals.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
If you desire to dig a well to reach water, your efforts are more fruitful if you dig one 100-foot-deep hole than if you dig ten holes each 10 feet deep.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
The real tragedy is the tragedy of the man who never in his life braces himself for his one supreme effort, who never stretches to his full capacity, never stands up to his full stature
—Arnold Bennett (1867–1931) British Novelist
God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into the nest.
—Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819–81) American Novelist, Poet
Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them; but do not let them master you. Let them teach you patience, sweetness, insight… When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
Very few people are capable of sustained effort, and that’s the reason why we have comparatively few outstanding successes.
—Roger McDonald (b.1941) Australian Novelist, Poet, Screenwriter, Writer
Push yourself again and again. Don’t give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.
—Larry Bird (b.1956) American Sportsperson
Just as a man blows a small fire into a flame, so a man of wisdom and discernment can make money even from a small investment.
—Buddhist Teaching
Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you.
—Arnold Palmer (b.1929) American Sportsperson