Quotes About Perseverance

They] took it upon themselves to start the laborious process of cranking up life again, after death has stopped us all in its tracks.

She's not coming back. No. He knew it was true. He had the feeling that the world might easily stop turning without the girl in it. Every hour was arduous, and when it was over, you had to start again with a new one, no better. He wondered how long he would be able to keep it going.

Lily was no great reader. She could not tell b from d and all the letters quivered on the page as soon as they felt the brush of her gaze; but when her mother read aloud in her gentle voice, the lines settled and she found she could follow the thread after all, mouthing the words silently in time. Sometimes

tightly drawn into a mask of endurance.

She made her resolution. In for a penny, in for a pound.

Margot was a handsome woman in her late fifties. She could lift barrels without help and had legs so sturdy, she never felt the need to sit down. It was rumored she even slept on her feet, but she had given birth to thirteen children, so clearly she must have lain down sometimes.

Adeline was made like a piece of wire with knots for knees and elbows.

Set the highest example. Remember, no one ever did anything absolutely right. Perfection is impossible, but striving for perfection is not. You have the power to do that.

would make it.

I waved back and went in, and began to sort my way through ancient building plans that had been rolled up so long that straightening them out was like six bouts with an octopus.

Stifling hope is a hopeless business.

her to me and asked if I

By contrast, Blanche K. Bruce was the real deal. Born into slavery in Virginia, Bruce was freed by his master and studied at Oberlin College before becoming a successful farmer and landowner. He is the only former slave to have served in the U.S. Senate.

As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.

a boat, even a wrecked and wretched boat still has all the possibilities of moving

Topaz was wonderfully patient - but sometimes I wonder if it is not only patience, but also a faint resemblance to cows.

Oh, I have just had an idea - after tea I shall attack myself with sandpaper.

Porque una debe de hundirse en el abismo si quiere elevarse a las alturas.

I]f I don't get going soon, the whole impetus may die---and if that happens, well, I really shall consider a long, restful plunge into insanity. Sometimes the abyss yawns very attractively.

It was only after two years' work that it occurred to me that I was a writer. I had no particular expectation that the novel would ever be published, because it was sort of a mess. It was only when I found myself writing things I didn't realise I knew that I said, 'I'm a writer now.' The novel had become an incentive to deeper thinking. That's really what writing is—an intense form of thought.

Sometimes it takes an entire morning to outlive a dream, to outwake a dream.

But I wanted to read it now, I needed it now, even if I knew I'd never finish. I liked reading books that nearly killed me, books that helped tell me who I was

My life is either/or. Either I chew regular gum or I chew sugarless gum. Either I chew gum or I smoke. Either I smoke or I gain weight. Either I gain weight or I run up the stadium steps.' 'Sounds like a boring life.' 'I hope it lasts forever.

I'm not looking to wear the white man out with my ability to suffer.