Quotes About Determination

Americans, from the beginning and throughout much of their history, were a warrior people when dealing with those who stood in their path.

The most important thing now, as fast as conditions are changing, is that no Negro tolerate any ceiling on his ambitions or imagination. Good luck and don't have any doubts; you haven't time for such foolishness.

Often, when we say it is "too late" for us to begin something, what we are really saying is that we aren't willing to be a beginner. But when we are willing to dip our toe in, even just a little, we are rewarded with a sense of youthful wonder. Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never. —WINSTON CHURCHILL

Non illegitimi te carborundum, the graffiti in prisoner-of-war camps is said to have run. The rough translation, very important for artists, is "Don't let the bastards get you down." Artists who take this to heart survive and often prevail. The key here is action. Pain that is not used profitably quickly solidifies into a leaden heart, which makes any action difficult.

Art? You just do it. MARTIN RITT

It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it. SOMERSET MAUGHAM

To kill your dreams because they are irresponsible is to irresponsible to yourself.

You must do the thing you think you cannot do. ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

Writing is like breathing, it's possible to learn to do it well, but the point is to do it no matter what.

When I make this point in teaching, I am met by instant, defensive hostility: "But do you know how old I will be by the time I learn to really play the piano/act/paint/write a decent play?" Yes … the same age you will be if you don't.

It is very difficult to complain about a situation morning after morning, month after month, without being moved to constructive action.

QUESTION: Do you know how old I'll be by the time I learn to play the piano? ANSWER: The same age you will be if you don't.

Illegitemus non carborundum est ("Don't let the bastards grind you down").

I opened the school's booklet, found the recipes from the examination — oeufs mollets with sauce béarnaise, côtelettes de veau en surprise and crème renversée au caramel — and whipped them all up in a cold, clean fury. Then I ate them.

But I was made of nows, and my feet level on the promissory earth would not accept walking backwards and went forward, forward, mocking the ashes to reach the kiss of new paths. I Was My Own Route

but boys who like the tough sports—boys who are virtually nursed on that potion of hustle, slam, and grunt—they're the ones with the best chance in life.

I want a more difficult life, that's all. What I really want is a first-rate life. I may not get it, but the only chance I have lies in getting out of a second-rate life. I may fail completely, but I do want to try. It's to do with me, not you; so don't worry.

After two hours or so, I gave up. I came back the next day, and the next, without success. Then I drove to the street with the pub and the shop, and parked outside. I waited, went into the shop and bought a few things, waited some more, drove home. I had absolutely no sense of wasting my time: rather, it was the opposite way round—that this was what my time was now for.

I was determined to be polite, unoffendable, persistent, boring, friendly: in other words, to lie.

Are you saying that the people here aren't desperate? I think you're wrong. I think they are and they just don't know it. Oh, they're desperate, all right, but so desperate that they're clinging to what they have.

Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th time.

Success is failing nineteen times and soaring the twentieth.

I strive to get what I want and people have always said I am a monster in that department, but that is always said about us ladies who grasp for our own strength.

And as she looked back at him, she felt the serrated edges of her heart in her chest. But also a sort of dizzying vastness: she could face anything now.