Quotes About Effort

Influence could get me inside the door, but my productivity and the quality of my work were the real tests.

It's not what you know but the kind of job you do that makes the difference.

THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM

guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.

When [...] you're putting out your best, it's hard to hide.

It's not what you know but the kind of job you do that makes the difference.

A young man needs to know where he stands in the world, not just as a matter of basic human dignity but as determinants in the ways and means of survival, and what you might hope to gain by application of honest effort—

In rowing," Tyler said, "sometimes there's one guy in your boat who slows the whole thing down. He might mean well. He might be trying as hard, or even harder, than anyone else, but it doesn't matter, he's weighing everyone down. We call that guy an anchor." And with that, the twins left the building.

I may be wrong but I think nothing needs so much effort as prayer to God. If anyone wants to pray, the demons try to interrupt the prayer, for they know that prayer is the only thing that hinders them. All the other efforts in a religious life, whether they are made vehemently or gently, have room for a measure of rest. But we need to pray till our dying breath. That is the great struggle.

The rate of return sought should be dependent, rather, on the amount of intelligent effort the investor is willing and able to bring to bear on his task.

Today's investors have forgotten Graham's message. They put most of their effort into buying a stock, a little into selling it - but none into owning it. Certainly, Graham reminds us, there is just as much reason to exercise care and judgment in being as in becoming a stockholder.

In our view the search for these would not be worth the investor's effort unless he could hope to add, say, 5% before taxes to the average annual return from the stock portion of his portfolio.

The rate of return sought should be dependent, rather, on the amount of intelligent effort the investor is willing and able to bring to bear on his task. The minimum return goes to our passive investor, who wants both safety and freedom from concern. The maximum return would be realized by the alert and enterprising investor who exercises maximum intelligence and skill.

The rest merely requires common sense; it is like a boxing match, the more you punch the better it is.

Taxes, as I was to learn, were the best source of wealth for men who did not want to work

Più sgobbava - la sua fatica era un'immagine del tempo che divora se stesso - meno sembrava possedere.

Quando si ha qualcosa da fare che valga la pena, dormire è una perdita.

L'humanité sera condamnée le jour où les humains n'auront plus envie de se surpasser. Aussi, vous tous qui m'écoutez, posez-vous cette question : « Mais au fait, qu'est-ce qui me donne envie de me lever le matin pour entreprendre des choses ? Qu'est-ce qui me donne envie de faire des efforts ? Qu'est-ce qui me pousse à agir ? »

She was struggling, as she had always struggled, not to show what she could do but to hide what she couldn't do. A life made up of advances that were actually frantic retreats and victories that were concealed defeats.

Ne ispada li, onda, da je egzistencijalni umor rezultat premalog, a ne prevelikog angažovanja? Postajemo li umorni usled toga što olakšavamo sebi situaciju, a ne stoga što je otežavamo?

William James describes a man who got the experience from laughing-gas; whenever he was under its influence, he knew the secret of the universe, but when he came to, he had forgotten it. At last, with immense effort, he wrote down the secret before the vision had faded. When completely recovered, he rushed to see what he had written. It was: A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.

There can be no final goal for human institutions; the best are those that most encourage progress towards others still better. Without effort and change, human life cannot remain good. It is not a finished Utopia that we ought to desire, but a world where imagination and hope are alive and active.

The pleasure of work is open to anyone who can develop some specialized skill, provided that he can get satisfaction from the exercise of his skill without demanding universal applause.

Vast organisations produce a sense of impotence in the individual, leading to a decay of effort. The danger can be averted if it is realised by administrators, but it is of a kind which most administrators are constitutionally incapable of realising. Into every tidy scheme for arranging the pattern of human life it is necessary to inject a certain dose of anarchism, enough to prevent immobility leading to decay, but not enough to bring about disruption.