Quotes About Determination

We talk a lot here about grit and self-control. The kids know what those words mean

It is easier and far more satisfying to retreat and compose yourself after every score—and execute perfectly choreographed plays—than to swarm about, arms flailing, and contest every inch of the basketball court. Underdog strategies

Popeils had been doing for most of the century, and what all the experts said couldn't be done in the modern economy. He dreamed up something new in his kitchen and went out and pitched it himself.

a lesson crucial to those who wanted to tackle the upper reaches of a profession like law or medicine: if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires (151).

The power of positive thinking will overcome so many things

a lesson crucial to those who wanted to tackle the upper reaches of a profession like law or medicine: if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires.

Success is not a random act. It arises out of a predictable and powerful set of circumstances and oppor­tunities

Malcolm Gladwell

the fact of being an underdog can change people in ways that we often fail to appreciate:

Gosh darn it," Gau said, "if you don't try, you'll never succeed.

The whole Redwood City philosophy was based on a willingness to try harder than anyone else.

And why? Because

take control of the machinery of achievement, in other words—not just in sports but, as we

Would Oppenheimer have lost his scholarship at Reed? Would he have been unable to convince his professors to move his classes to the afternoon? Of course not. And that's not because he was smarter than Chris Langan. It's because he possessed the kind of savvy that allowed him to get what he wanted from the world.

los que están en la misma cumbre no es que trabajen un poco o bastante más que todos los demás. Trabajan mucho, mucho más.

Chamberlain would later

Chris Langan, by contrast, had only the bleakness of Bozeman, and a home dominated by an angry, drunken stepfather. "[Jack] Langan did this to all of us," said Mark.

I'd rather have somebody who is real stupid but did something—even if it's wrong he did something—than have somebody who'd vacillate and do nothing." That's what LeMay values.

Because we so profoundly personalize success, we miss opportunities to lift others onto the top rung. We make rules that frustrate achievement. We prematurely write off people as failures. And, most of all, we become much too passive. We overlook just how large a role we all play—and by we I mean society—in determining who makes it and who doesn't.

statement. They also made a technical skate

Proficimus more irretenti:

Il successo è una funzione della perseveranza, della caparbietà e della propensione a impiegare ventidue minuti per trovare il senso a qualcosa che la maggior parte delle persone lascerebbe perdere dopo 30 secondi.

had a girl in this class," Corcoran said. "She was a horrible math student in fifth grade. She cried every Saturday when we did remedial stuff. Huge tears and tears." At the memory, Corcoran got a little emotional himself. He looked down. "She just e-mailed us a couple weeks ago. She's in college now. She's an accounting major.

if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires.