Unyielding Spirit: 50 Inspiring Quotes on Persistence

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."

- Calvin Coolidge

"Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in."

- Bill Bradley

"Success is not the absence of failure; it's the persistence through failure."

- Aisha Tyler

"History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeat."

- B. C. Forbes

"The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."

- Calvin Coolidge

"This is the highest wisdom that I own; freedom and life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Don’t be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves."

- Dale Carnegie

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

- Confucius

"Kites rise highest against the wind – not with it!"

- Winston Churchill

"With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable."

- Thomas Foxwell Buxton

"Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second."

- William James

"Continuous effort -- not strength or intelligence -- is the key to unlocking our potential."

- Winston Churchill

"He conquers who endures."

- Persius

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to always try just one more time."

- Thomas Edison

"Permanence, perseverance, and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragement, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak."

- Thomas Carlyle

"Full effort is full victory."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"If you are doing all you can to the fullest of your ability as well as you can, there is nothing else that is asked of a soul."

- Gary Zukav

"Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity."

- Louis Pasteur

"Slight persistent effort can move you successfully forward in anything you do."

- Kelli Wilson

"P is for Persistence! Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Wishing will not; Talent will not; Genius will not; Education will not; Persistence is like a Genie that creates a magical force in your life."

- Lucas Remmerswaal

"Persistence is the twin sister of excellence. One is a matter of quality; the other, a matter of time."

- Marabel Morgan

"If you fell down yesterday, stand up today."

- H.G. Wells

"Your 1st blog post will be bad, but your 1000th will be great. Your 1st workout will be weak, but your 1000th will be strong. Your 1st meditation will be scattered, but your 1000th will be focused. Put in your reps."

- James Clear

"I learned patience, perseverance, and dedication. Now I really know myself, and I know my voice. It’s a voice of pain and victory."

- Anthony Hamilton

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."

- Calvin Coolidge

"Permanence, perseverance, and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: it is this that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak."

- Thomas Carlyle

"Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another."

- Walter Elliot

"If you are going through hell, keep going."

- Winston S. Churchill

"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it."

- Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"Each life is made up of mistakes and learning, waiting and growing, practicing patience and being persistent."

- Billy Graham

"The only guarantee for failure is to stop trying."

- John C. Maxwell

"The key to success is action and the essential in action is perseverance."

- Sun Yat Sen

"Success seems to be connected with action. Successful men keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit."

- Conrad Hilton

"Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance."

- Samuel Johnson

"And you very soon find out, if you have not found it out before, that patience and tenacity of purpose are worth more than twice their weight of cleverness."

- Thomas Huxley

"In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm… in the real world all rests on perseverance."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"When you think that you are done, you’re only 40% in to what your body’s capable of doing. That’s just the limits that we put on ourselves."

- David Goggins

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts."

- Winston Churchill

"Persist and persevere, and you will find most things that are attainable, possible."

- Lord Chesterfield

"Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves."

- Marie Curie

"A winner is just a loser who tried one more time."

- George M. Moore Jr.

"Through perseverance many people win success out of what seemed destined to be certain failure."

- Benjamin Disraeli

"It always seems impossible until it is done."

- Nelson Mandela

"The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something."

- Randy Pausch

"The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won’t."

- Henry Ward Beecher

"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did."

- Newt Gingrich

"The most entrepreneurial trait there is: the ability to persist."

- Steve Chou

"I am a slow walker, but I never walk back."

- Abraham Lincoln

"Perseverance, the secret of all triumphs."

- Victor Hugo

"Before you dream about the view from the summit, ask yourself if you’re willing to keep your head down, focus on the path, and spend your life walking up the side of a very big hill."

- James Clear

"Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do."

- Pele

"I will persist until I succeed. Always will I take another step. If that is of no avail I will take another, and yet another."

- Og Mandino

"Perseverance is failing nineteen times and succeeding the twentieth."

- Julie Andrews

"Never stop just because you feel defeated. The journey to the other side is attainable only after great suffering."

- Santosh Kalwar

"It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up."

- Babe Ruth

"Great difficulties may be surmounted by patience and perseverance."

- Abigail Adams

"For water continually dropping will wear hard rocks hollow."

- Plutarch

"It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer."

- Albert Einstein

"I would rather fail pushing forward than in retreat."

- Grant Cardone

"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go."

- William Feather

"Pain doesn’t get easier. You just have to get stronger."

- Elizabeth Lim

"Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel."

- Napoleon Hill

"My greatest point is my persistence. I never give up in a match. However down I am, I fight until the last ball. My list of matches shows that I have turned a great many so-called irretrievable defeats into victories."

- Bjorn Borg

"Continuous, unflagging effort, persistence and determination will win. Let not the man be discouraged who has these."

- James Whitcomb Riley

"Paralyze resistance with persistence."

- Woody Hayes

"Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence."

- Colin Powell

"Energy and persistence conquer all things."

- Benjamin Franklin

"A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success."

- Elbert Hubbard

"Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak."

- Thomas Carlyle

"Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success."

- Dale Carnegie

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."

- Calvin Coolidge

"Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success."

- Napoleon Hill

"You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated."

- Maya Angelou

"If you’re going through hell, keep going."

- Winston Churchill

"Champions keep playing until they get it right."

- Billie Jean King

"If you can't fly, then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The most essential factor is persistence – the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement that must inevitably come."

- James Whitcomb Riley

"The key of persistence opens all doors closed by resistance."

- John Di Lemme

"The most interesting thing about a postage stamp is the persistence with which it sticks to the job."

- Napoleon Hill

"You just can’t beat the person who never gives up."

- Babe Ruth

"In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins – not through strength, but through persistence."

- Buddha

"I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature."

- John D. Rockefeller

"Failure is only postponed success as long as courage 'coaches' ambition. The habit of persistence is the habit of victory."

- Herbert Kaufman

"To make our way, we must have firm resolve, persistence, tenacity. We must gear ourselves to work hard all the way. We can never let up."

- Ralph Bunche

"Persistence is incredibly important. Persistence proves to the person you're trying to reach that you're passionate about something, that you really want something."

- Norah O'Donnell

"The real issue is not talent as an independent element, but talent in relationship to will, desire, and persistence. Talent without these things vanishes and even modest talent with those characteristics grows."

- Milton Glaser

"Persistence and endurance will make you omnipotent."

- Casey Neistat

"Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence."

- Hal Borland

"The most important characteristics you need to succeed in business are resilience, determination and persistence."

- Karren Brady

"The only recipe is hard work, persistence, and belief."

- Julen Lopetegui

"Success is not a matter of mastering subtle, sophisticated theory but rather of embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence."

- Patrick Lencioni

"The big talent is persistence."

- Octavia E. Butler

"Persistence is a secret weapon for everyone."

- Liu Wen

"Persistence pays off."

- Jeffrey Dean Morgan

"As long as we are persistence in our pursuit of our deepest destiny, we will continue to grow. We cannot choose the day or time when we will fully bloom. It happens in its own time."

- Denis Waitley

"Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work though difficult problems."

- Gever Tulley

"Success is all about persistence and doing the right thing for the long term."

- Bruce Rauner

"With patience and persistence, even the smallest act of discipleship or the tiniest ember of belief can become a blazing bonfire of a consecrated life. In fact, that's how most bonfires begin - as a simple spark."

- Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"The level of competition on 'Iron Chef' was very intense. In fact, I feel like the show provides chefs with a stamp of approval and in many ways lets them know that 'they've arrived.' It was a tough journey, to say the least, but in the end, it provided me with an example how hard work and persistence pays off."

- Maneet Chauhan

"Throughout human history, in any great endeavour requiring the common effort of many nations and men and women everywhere, we have learned - it is only through seriousness of purpose and persistence that we ultimately carry the day. We might liken it to riding a bicycle. You stay upright and move forward so long as you keep up the momentum."

- Ban Ki-moon

"Success is about persistence. You can only afford to be persistent in something you deeply enjoy."

- Cenk Uygur

"Effective networking isn't a result of luck - it requires hard work and persistence."

- Lewis Howes

"Positivity, confidence, and persistence are key in life, so never give up on yourself."

- Khalid

"Life is full of challenges, but I always have the Three Ps: Passion, patience and persistence. And the fourth one is pizza."

- Butch Hartman

"I don't know if I discovered I had any talent. It was dogged persistence. I had to have the music."

- Bob Weir

"The art of love is largely the art of persistence."

- Albert Ellis

"Quantity and persistence will get you the outcomes you need."

- James Altucher

"You're made to feel ugly, and I made ugly beautiful. Just by sheer persistence. Nobody has the right to say that I am ugly, and I will not be a professional victim, you know. Sorry!"

- John Lydon

"Never let your persistence and passion turn into stubbornness and ignorance."

- Anthony J. D'Angelo

"Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt. Give the world your best anyway."

- Mother Theresa

"It's not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change."

- Charles Darwin

"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars."

- Kahlil Gibran

"If you’re not failing, you’re not pushing your limits, and if you’re not pushing your limits, you’re not maximizing your potential."

- Ray Dalio

"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand."

- Vince Lombardi

"We are at our very best, and we are happiest, when we are fully engaged in work we enjoy on the journey toward the goal we've established for ourselves."

- Earl Nightingale

"If you do not have persistence then no amount of education, talent, or genius can make up for it."

- Stephen Richards

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

- Thomas Edison

"I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."

- Thomas Jefferson

"We are made to persist. That's how we find out who we are."

- Tobias Wolff

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm."

- Winston Churchill

"All right Mister, let me tell you what winning means... you're willing to go longer, work harder, give more than anyone else."

- Vincent Lombardi

"Continuous effort--not strength or intelligence--is the key to unlocking our potential."

- Winston Churchill

"Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out."

- Art Linkletter

"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress."

- Barack Obama

"The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams."

- Oprah Winfrey

"I do the very best I know how, the very best I can and I mean to keep doing so until the end."

- Abraham Lincoln

"The best way out is always through."

- Robert Frost

"The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one time more."

- Thomas Edison

"Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries."

- James A. Michener

"Throw yourself into some work you believe in with all your heart, live for it, die for it, and you will find the happiness that you had thought could never be yours."

- Dale Carnegie

"I never took a day off in my twenties. Not one."

- Bill Gates

"Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them."

- Ann Landers

"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer."

- Albert Einstein

"To follow, without halt, one aim: There's the secret of success."

- Anna Pavlova

"You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day."

- Marian Wright Edelman

"How quickly and often you optimize is what counts."

- Rosalene Glickman, Ph.D.

"The only things you learn are the things you tame."

- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success."

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

"Do what you can with all you have, wherever you are."

"Whether you're a schoolchild or a CEO, persistence is the factor that will allow you to make the most of your natural ability."