Quotes about Perseverance

I have wondered why it is that our greatest triumphs spring from our greatest extremity and adversity. Perhaps it is because we are so resistant to change, we only move when our seat becomes too hot to occupy.

It is in the darkest skies that stars are best seen.

Why is it that good always has to fight an uphill battle?" I thought for a moment, then said, "I don't know. Maybe that's the point. Good things are higher up.

You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn't at all. You can be discouraged by failure-or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember, that's where you will find success.

For the third time since I began, my walk has been delayed. In the beginning, I had considered these stops on my journey as interruptions---but I'm coming to understand that perhaps these detours are my journey. No matter how much I, or the rest of humanity wishes otherwise, life is not lived in smooth, downhill expressways, but in the obscure, perilous trails and rocky back roads of life where we stumble and feel our way through the fog of the unknown.

The sun will rise again. The only uncertainty is whether or not we will rise to greet it. Alan Christensen's diary

There is one day that has brought me unspeakable pain, & the effects of that day continue to cover & erode my world like rust. I suspect that someday the rust will eat through the joists & posts of my life & I will topple, literally as well as figuratively.

That which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger," Mike said. "Except bears. Bears will kill you.

We climb mountains because the valleys are full of cemeteries. The secret of survival is to climb, even in the dark, even when the climb seems pointless. The climb, not the summit, is the thing. And the great don't just climb mountains, they carve them as they go. Korczak

The thing is, the only real sign of life is growth. And growth requires pain. So to choose life is to accept pain. Some people go to such lengths to avoid pain that they give up on life. They bury their hearts, or they drug or drink themselves numb until they don't' feel anything anymore. The irony is, in the end their escape becomes more painful than what they're avoiding.

All great men are delusional. How else could they be crazy enough to think they could change the world?

Though adversity is the fertile soil in which the human spirit best grows, we loathe it still. I do not see how it can be otherwise, for no rational being seeks out pain and misfortune. Still, I cannot help but wonder if it is not somehow wrong to enjoy the fruit but curse the tree.