Quotes about Effort

A strong man cannot help a weaker unless the weaker is willing to be helped, and even then the weak man must become strong of himself; he must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition.

He who would accomplish little need sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much. He who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.

I will do my best. That is all I can do. I ask for your help—and God's.

Shallow desires produce only shallow efforts.

I want the flowers but not the work. Isn't that the way it is with many things in life—we want the results but have no desire to put in the work required?

Don't buy into what the scale says or doesn't say. Trust the effort you are putting into getting healthy. And keep going! Not only are there changes going on in your body that you can't see, there are changes going on in your spirit—with your discipline, your courage, and your willpower. Keep going!

We can't take any credit for our talents. It's how we use them that counts.

Few things can mess you up as badly as trying to do your best. For the tender heart, the earnest heart, it is so discouraging to give all you have trying to do what you think Jesus would have you do, and find yourself falling short, sabotaging your own efforts at every turn. Discouragement and shame settle in like a long Seattle rain. And this is what most Christians experience as the Christian life: Try harder; feel worse.

Haven't you known highly talented people who have squandered their potential because they wouldn't do anything? And don't you know people less talented than you who are more successful? That is often due, in part, to commitment.

I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat.

There must be a reason why some people can afford to live well. They must have worked for it. I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things we could use.

Excellence requires discomfort.