quotations about effort
Productive effort is variable and volitional. It is under the control of our will or desire. No one has to make it but the consequence of non?effort is non?production thus non?consumption, a consequence most of us (who want to live) will not choose.
CHRISTOPHER ALAN ANDERSON
The Man and Woman Manifesto
Do not attempt to accomplish greater results by a greater effort of your little understanding, but by a greater understanding of your little effort.
WALTER RUSSELL
THINK: IBM Lecture Series
God doesn't require us to succeed; he only requires us to try.
MOTHER TERESA
Rolling Stone, Dec. 1992
On the wonder wheel I let my thunder peel
I made an effort to get just what I deserve
BECK
"Thunder Peel", Stereopathetic Soulmanure
Earnest effort leads to success.
AMERICAN PROVERB
Beautiful objects are wrought by study through effort, but ugly things are reaped automatically without toil.
DEMOCRITUS
attributed, Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers
If there is effort, there is always accomplishment.
JIGORO KANO
attributed, Black Belt: Judo Skills and Techniques
By labor, fire is got out of a stone.
DUTCH PROVERB
What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.
SAMUEL JOHNSON
Johnsonian Miscellanies
To rank the effort above the prize may be called love.
CONFUCIUS
Analects
To despise all effort is the greatest effort of all.
JOHN FOWLES
The Magus
Despite the success cult, men are most deeply moved not by the reaching of the goal but by the grandness of effort involved in getting there--or failing to get there.
MAX LERNER
"Man's Belief in Himself,", The Unfinished Country
Walls don't fall without effort.
NEAL SHUSTERMAN
Bruiser
Inscribe all human effort with one word,
Artistry’s haunting curse, the Incomplete!
ROBERT BROWNING
The Ring and the Book
In this world, the only easy path is the course of least resistance. This is the path always taken by a stream of water as it seeks lower and lower ground. It will never go over an obstacle, and even when it has to go around one, water will always find the easiest way around, the way that requires as little work as possible. This, you have noticed, is what makes rivers crooked, and it makes men and women crooked too. The easy path never goes anywhere but downward, and spiritually, that is not the direction we want to go. Worthwhile destinations always take extra effort.
GARY HENRY
Reaching Forward
Determination, effort, and practice are rewarded with success.
MARY LYDON SIMONSEN
The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy
Elbow grease is the best polish.
ENGLISH PROVERB
We must put effort and energy into anything we wish to change.
ERIN MORGENSTERN
The Night Circus
The struggle alone pleases us, not the victory.
PASCAL
Pensées
It is with many enterprises as with striking fire; we do not meet with success except by reiterated efforts, and often at the instant when we despaired of success.
MADAME DE MAINTENON
attributed, Treasury of Thought