Quotes About Persistence

I simply vowed to the universe that I would write forever, regardless of the result.

And no, this story does not end with her winning any championship medals. It doesn't have to. In fact, this story does not end at all, because Susan is still figure skating several mornings a week—simply because skating is still the best way for her to unfold a certain beauty and transcendence within her life that she cannot seem to access in any other manner.

Sometimes it takes a very long while to figure things out.

Because the truth of the matter is, most people don't finish things! Look around you, the evidence is everywhere: People don't finish. They begin ambitious projects with the best of intentions, but then they get stuck in a mire of insecurity and doubt and hairsplitting . . . and they stop. So if you can just complete something—merely complete it!—you're already miles ahead of the pack, right there.

you must never become lax about maintaining it

I had only asked writing to be interesting. And it was always interesting to me. Even when I couldn't do it right, it was still interesting to me. It still interests me. Nothing has ever interested me more. That profound sense of interest kept me working

Most of all, I keep working because I trust that creativity is always trying to find me, even when I have lost sight of it.

I believe that life cannot be survived—that is evident!—but if one is lucky, life can be endured for quite a long while. If one is both lucky and stubborn, life can sometimes even be enjoyed.

Miss Greaves drifted behind them, silent as a wraith. He had the most persistent urge to turn and confront her—make her say something to him.

Tell me, Mr. Harte, do you ever give up? Never. His green eyes narrowed as his mouth firmed. He looked very much as he had when he'd struck Mr. Sherwood: savage, uncompromising, a force to be reckoned with. She should be afraid of this man. Perhaps she was. Perhaps the hammering of her heart, the quickening of her breath were fear. But if she were, she chose to disregard it. Very well. He sat back, a wide, lopsided grin spreading over his face, just as Ruth entered with another tray.

A man who sets a course and proceeds to sail it, no matter the barriers or odds, is very admirable in my opinion.

only the most hardy of living things survive renewal.

If I didn't have a ship to go after you, I'd buy one and chase you until I caught you.

The world wasn't going to go away. Ever.

Courage is inherent in all creatures; it is the quality that keeps them alive, because they endure.

I may say, without undue egotism, that when I make up my mind to do something, it is done quickly. The lethargic old city of the Popes fairly quaked under my ruthless hand during the following week.

I suspect the most we can hope for, and it's no small hope, is that we never give up, that we never stop giving ourselves permission to try to love and receive love.

But what could you do? Only keep going. People kept going; they had been doing it for thousands of years. You took the kindness offered, letting it seep as far in as it could go, and the remaining dark crevices you carried around with you, knowing that over time they might change into something almost bearable.

I was determined to find you first, he said, before I go to Rose. And he added quickly, I want to kiss your shoes. Do you? said Scrap, smiling. Then I must go and put on my new ones. These aren't nearly good enough.

When you fight back and win, even in small battles, it makes a difference in who you become. You're better for it. That's what persistence is about. It's a ferocious optimism.

Sometimes it pays to fight back, even when everyone says it would be better to give up.

And early on I learned that no one gives you anything for free. If you really care about something, if you really want something, you have to fight for it.

Don't know how I kept going. You just do. You have to, so you do.

A part of me will always be unflyable, stuck in the climb.