“
So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
“
Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.
”
”
Angela Duckworth (Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance)
“
Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring.
”
”
Catherine of Siena
“
A Hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
”
”
Christopher Reeve
“
We love being mentally strong, but we hate situations that allow us to put our mental strength to good use.
”
”
Mokokoma Mokhonoana
“
Sure I am this day we are masters of our fate, that the task which has been set before us is not above our strength; that its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win, victory will not be denied us.
”
”
Winston S. Churchill
“
First steps are always the hardest but until they are taken the notion of progress remains only a notion and not an achievement.
”
”
Aberjhani (Illuminated Corners: Collected Essays and Articles Volume I.)
“
Patience is the antidote to the restless poison of the Ego. Without it we all become ego-maniacal bulls in china shops, destroying our future happiness as we blindly rush in where angels fear to tread. In these out-of-control moments, we bulldoze through the best possible outcomes for our lives, only to return to the scene of the crime later to cry over spilt milk.
”
”
Anthon St. Maarten (Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny)
“
Easily mistaken, it is not about a love for adversity, it is about knowing a strength and a faith so great that adversity, in all its adverse manifestations, hardly even exists.
”
”
Criss Jami (Killosophy)
“
Discover a purpose that gives you passion. Develop a plan that makes you persistent. Design a preparation and motivates you to optimize your potentials. Do it because you love it!
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (Dream big!: See your bigger picture!)
“
He who knows he has enough is rich. Perseverance is a sign of will power. He who stays where he is endures. To die but not to perish is to be eternally present.
”
”
Lao Tzu
“
Today's tears water tomorrow's gardens.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
Every violent storm will eventually give way to sunshine; every dark night will finally fade into dawn.
”
”
Steve Goodier
“
It's not about what you're capable of, it's about what you are willing to endure.
”
”
Orrin Woodward
“
It is the hardest thing of all, the one thing that will show if you have the one true courage. To know that you have failed, that your best efforts have been defeated, to not be able to stand it, to not be able to go on and yet to go on nonetheless.
”
”
Silvia Hartmann (Sorcerer and Apprentice (In Serein, #1))
“
Kiss your scars. Fall in love with them. They ought to serve as life-affirming reminders—a lingering trace of hope. The only reason we have these scars is because we survived and are still here.
”
”
Kamand Kojouri
“
Common man's patience will bring him more happiness than common man's power.
”
”
Amit Kalantri (Wealth of Words)
“
When you complain, you explain pain for no gain. Endure and balance yourself through the pain, be hopeful and persist to the end.
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (The Great Hand Book of Quotes)
“
एकपटक लडेर नराम्ररी घाइते भएको, चोट खाएको मान्छे उठेर नहिँड्दासम्म उसलाई त्यो गर्नसक्छु भन्ने आत्मविश्वास हुँदैन ।
”
”
Sanu Sharma (अर्को देशमा [Arko Deshma])
“
God can allow you to pass through storms and get to your success. But what the devil loves to do is to make you not to realize it that the storm is over. He wishes to keep you in condemnation even at the time you have to feel liberated.
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor
“
Amidst the shadows of adversity, a heart burdened and broken finds its steps faltering. Yet, it is in the act of rising, of daring to tread once more, that the flicker of confidence reignites.
”
”
Sanu Sharma (अर्को देशमा [Arko Deshma])
“
One who has fallen and been badly injured won't regain the confidence to walk again until they get back up and try.
”
”
Sanu Sharma (अर्को देशमा [Arko Deshma])
“
allowing only ordinary ability and opportunity, we may explain success mainly by one word and that word is WORK! WORK!! WORK!!! WORK!!!! Not transient and fitful effort, but patient, enduring, honest, unremitting and indefatigable work into which the whole heart is put[...]
There is no royal road to perfection.
”
”
Frederick Douglass
“
Yes, silence is painful, but if you endure it, you will hear the cadence of the entire universe.
”
”
Kamand Kojouri
“
If beautiful lilies bloom in ugly waters, you too can blossom in ugly situations.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
Some trees are too deeply rooted to move … And if they are uprooted, they will die…
”
”
Jocelyn Murray (The Gilded Mirror: Constantinople (#3))
“
Life may try to knock you down but be persistent with your passions - cultivate grit, resilience, tenacity and endurance success will come.
”
”
Amit Ray
“
It is never easy to endure pain nor uncomfortable situation. It is seems easy to quit to avoid the pain.If you quit you will suffer later. It is far better to endure the pain now and enjoy later. Life is all about endurance.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita
“
Some of the things that beat the shit out of you . . . can beat the bullshit out of you too.
”
”
Henry V. O'Neil (Glory Main (The Sim War, #1))
“
The road to success is longer than you'd like, but shorter than you imagine.
”
”
Tim Fargo
“
There is an easy way to silence your critics; just try to do what they say you can't do. If they are still not content, do more of it! Keep doing it until you become a master. Then look around, and you will see fewer critics and many compliments!
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor
“
Many people who became successful were once first time global failures. But because they didn't give up on their dreams, failure could not sink them. They triumphed at last!
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor
“
Strong enough to make holes in the rock are tiny drops of water that persist to fall. Persistence is the attitude that breaks down mountains one rock at a time!
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (Leaders' Watchwords)
“
Enthusiasm is common,Endurance is rare
”
”
Angela Duckworth (Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance)
“
There has never been any great person who never met great trials and oppositions but their patience, tenacity, endurance and perseverance saw them to the end as great people
”
”
Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
“
This is an ode to all of those that have never asked for one.
A thank you in words to all of those that do not do
what they do so well for the thanking.
This is to the mothers.
This is to the ones who match our first scream
with their loudest scream; who harmonize in our shared pain
and joy and terrified wonder when life begins.
This is to the mothers.
To the ones who stay up late and wake up early and always know
the distance between their soft humming song and our tired ears.
To the lips that find their way to our foreheads and know,
somehow always know, if too much heat is living in our skin.
To the hands that spread the jam on the bread and the mesmerizing
patient removal of the crust we just cannot stomach.
This is to the mothers.
To the ones who shout the loudest and fight the hardest and sacrifice
the most to keep the smiles glued to our faces and the magic
spinning through our days. To the pride they have for us
that cannot fit inside after all they have endured.
To the leaking of it out their eyes and onto the backs of their
hands, to the trails of makeup left behind as they smile
through those tears and somehow always manage a laugh.
This is to the patience and perseverance and unyielding promise
that at any moment they would give up their lives to protect ours.
This is to the mothers.
To the single mom’s working four jobs to put the cheese in the mac
and the apple back into the juice so their children, like birds in
a nest, can find food in their mouths and pillows under their heads.
To the dreams put on hold and the complete and total rearrangement
of all priority. This is to the stay-at-home moms and those that
find the energy to go to work every day; to the widows and the
happily married.
To the young mothers and those that deal with the unexpected
announcement of a new arrival far later than they ever anticipated.
This is to the mothers.
This is to the sack lunches and sleepover parties, to the soccer games
and oranges slices at halftime. This is to the hot chocolate
after snowy walks and the arguing with the umpire
at the little league game. To the frosting ofbirthday cakes
and the candles that are always lit on time; to the Easter egg hunts,
the slip-n-slides and the iced tea on summer days.
This is to the ones that show us the way to finding our own way.
To the cutting of the cord, quite literally the first time
and even more painfully and metaphorically the second time around.
To the mothers who become grandmothers and great-grandmothers
and if time is gentle enough, live to see the children of their children
have children of their own. To the love.
My goodness to the love that never stops and comes from somewhere
only mothers have seen and know the secret location of.
To the love that grows stronger as their hands grow weaker
and the spread of jam becomes slower and the Easter eggs get easier
to find and sack lunches no longer need making.
This is to the way the tears look falling from the smile lines
around their eyes and the mascara that just might always be
smeared with the remains of their pride for all they have created.
This is to the mothers.
”
”
Tyler Knott Gregson
“
Individuals who have learned to endure and persevere through the storms of hardships are those who can dance in the rain during a storm.
”
”
Ellen J. Barrier
“
Rejoice in the hope. Endure under tribulation. Persevere in prayer. -Romans 12:12
”
”
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (1984))
“
Our most beautiful dreams are born from our most unpleasant nightmares.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
Venture to a remote corner of a faraway land and, from the moment you get there, every person and every thing becomes an obstacle, designed to entrap you, to stop you proceeding on your way.
”
”
Tahir Shah
“
ENDURANCE
I don't know you,
But I love you,
Just as God loves me and you.
The sun and the moon
Are opposing forces,
But they still greet each other,
Peacefully,
As one awakens in the morning,
Just as the other goes to sleep.
Life has pounded me down
And thrashed me around,
Time and time again,
But I always get right back up,
Because I still love life -
Just as the earth still loves
The rain.
”
”
Suzy Kassem (Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem)
“
Marriage is a million piece puzzle, a pristine and exciting pursuit at the beginning that gradually becomes a daunting task, usually more challenging than anticipated. It is only those truly committed to solving that puzzle who witness in the end the miraculous outcome of every tiny piece laid out and pressed together in an inspiring and envious creation—a treasure only time, resoluteness, and perseverance could create.
”
”
Richelle E. Goodrich (Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, and Grumblings for Every Day of the Year)
“
[...] what's the use of lying down to die as long as we can stand up and walk.
”
”
Dean King (Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival)
“
Good things come to those who wait, but great things come to those who endure.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
Perseverance, endurance and patience are the three greatest survival skills.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
It's always been this way, I wanted to tell him. We bear the unbearable. We endure the unendurable. We do what must be done until we ourselves are undone.
”
”
Rick Yancey (The Last Star (The 5th Wave, #3))
“
They could have fought against it, begged for another way or gone off the path in hopes of finding an easier passage. Instead, they looked upon the trail ahead, the rough ridge, now bound by thick snow, and they accepted the path they had chosen.
”
”
Sage Steadman (Upon Destiny's Song)
“
Surviving war is an excellent training process. If it weren't so brutal, I 'd recommend it as an excellent start-up course in life. I feel that over years of endurance, hard work and perseverance of determination and conviction, of claiming our rights to stay alive, to be free and to be ourselves, of fighting the biggest wars as much as the smaller ones, our will can indeed move mountains for us.
”
”
Joumana Haddad (I Killed Scheherazade: Confessions of an Angry Arab Woman)
“
...maybe strength in the 21st century isn't about dominance....it's about the capacity to evoke....the ability to spark the enduring bonds of shared values, intrinsic motivation, and mutually committed perseverance. It is, in short, not the power merely to command, subordinate, demean, insult — and then crow about it with impunity. It's the power to inspire, animate, infuse, spark, evoke — and then connect, link, and collaborate, to be a force multiplier.
”
”
Umair Haque
“
Do you have the talent?' is rarely the question. 'Do you have the guts to finish?' is the real question.
”
”
Orrin Woodward (LIFE)
“
The attitude of others towards you is the reflection of their state of mind.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
“
You may bend, but that will not bring your life to an end. Your refusal to give up is the key; your rose flowers blossom from the thorns of life!
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (Daily Drive 365)
“
When resistance closes the door against you, remember that persistence holds the key. Don't give up too early; insist to endure to the end... You will never regret it!
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (Daily Drive 365)
“
The deeper the difficulty in fulfilling a dream, the brighter the outcome of its fulfillment and the sweeter the celebration thereof. Persist to the end; don't give up!
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (Daily Drive 365)
“
When you get a pinch and decide to give up, you will get a cut when you eventually do so. The consequences of giving up are more harmful than the causes. Just don’t give up!
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (The Great Hand Book of Quotes)
“
Success is reserved for you if you persevere; it's not deserved by you if you are indolent!
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (The Great Hand Book of Quotes)
“
Keep this thought handy when you feel a fit of rage coming on—it isn’t manly to be enraged. Rather, gentleness and civility are more human, and therefore manlier. A real man doesn’t give way to anger and discontent, and such a person has strength, courage, and endurance—unlike the angry and complaining. The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 11.18.5b
”
”
Ryan Holiday (The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living: Featuring new translations of Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius)
“
Loving what you do doesn’t mean you are never going to be faced with trials. It rather means, you are highly qualified to persist, persevere and endure till the end because you are enthusiastic about seeing the joyous end.
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (Dream big!: See your bigger picture!)
“
Why were the highly accomplished so dogged in their pursuits? For most, there was no realistic expectation of ever catching up to their ambitions. In their own eyes, they were never good enough. They were the opposite of complacent. And yet, in a very real sense, they were satisfied being unsatisfied. Each was chasing something of unparalleled interest and importance, and it was the chase—as much as the capture—that was gratifying. Even if some of the things they had to do were boring, or frustrating, or even painful, they wouldn’t dream of giving up. Their passion was enduring.
”
”
Angela Duckworth (Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance)
“
In every situation, may we find the grace of endurance.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
“
The strength we find within ourselves gives us endurance and perseverance power.
”
”
Ellen J. Barrier (How to Trust God When All Other Resources Have Failed)
“
You may work with 100% capacity every day and may not be seen by anybody for recommendation. This does not mean you should give up! The day you will decide to work at 40% may be the day you'll be seen by the person who is meant to recommend you for higher profile opportunities!
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (The Great Hand Book of Quotes)
“
The chance that you will become a master in something after the first attempt is neither here nor there. You don't get master's degree by attending school on the first day! Time will tell, so you got to persist!
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (Shaping the dream)
“
The thought that you will become a master in something after the first attempt is neither here nor there. You don't get master's degree by attending school on the first day of your life! Time will tell, so you got to persist!
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (The Great Hand Book of Quotes)
“
I honour endurance, perseverance, industry, talent; because these are the means by which men achieve great ends and mount to lofty eminence. -St.John Rivers
”
”
Charlotte Brontë (Jane Eyre)
“
Moving rocks today strengthens you for moving mountains tomorrow.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
With perseverance and endurance you can survive any storm.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
Do not give in to fear and lose hope. Be strong!
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
“
What else has kept any of us going, but love of someone or the memory of that love?
”
”
Rachel L. Schade (Forsaken Kingdom (Silent Kingdom, #2))
“
The only ones who survive trying times are those who are trying.
”
”
Aegelis (Specks of Shadows, Flecks of Light)
“
You've stained me but with grace I've made it my favourite colour.
”
”
D C de Oliveira ([im]permanent: Poetic Abstraction)
“
P.S. Success hits different when you spend more time clapping for yourself than looking down on your failures.
”
”
Kierra C.T. Banks
“
…I’d let those entering (grad) students in on my secret—higher education is all about perseverance. It has nothing to do with smarts or creativity or anything else.
It’s about cultivating the willingness and stamina for hoop jumping.
Jump through the hoops, I’d say. Do it well. Do it relentlessly. And in a few years you can join the elite of the American education system secure in the knowledge that you too can endure with the best of them.
”
”
Melanie Wells (When the Day of Evil Comes (Day of Evil, #1))
“
It is by persevering that one conquers difficulties, not by running away from them. One who perseveres is sure to triumph. Victory goes to the most enduring. Always do your best and the Lord will take care of the results.
Words of The Mother, vol.14, p.173
”
”
The Mother
“
Perseverance....
It sometimes makes you look like a fool
Working at something that that doesn't look cool.
Never mind if people mock you from their stool
When you are enthroned they will drool!
”
”
Manuela George-Izunwa
“
You have special abilities,” she goes on. “I don’t mean you are a witch or a fox spirit. And you’ve never seemed drawn to the special gift of healing or magic. Rather, you are like A-ma Mata, who gave birth to the Akha people, who pushed against her restraints, who said, ‘No, I will not accept my bad fate,’ and who endured against all odds with her intelligence, compassion, and perseverance. All that comes from this grove. And the mother tree.” A-ma
”
”
Lisa See (The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane)
“
Sometimes we want to heal right now and be done with it, but healing is a journey, a process. And we have to have faith in ourselves that we can endure, or we’ll never reach our destination. Thankfully, we all have the power in us to persevere. To learn. To heal.
”
”
Lia Mack (Waiting for Paint to Dry)
“
Never be discouraged. The fact that you will be a winner at the first attempt is unclear. You don’t get master’s degree after attending school on the first day. You got to endure till you get there.
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (Shaping the dream)
“
The onward march of the human race requires that the heights around it should be ablaze with noble and enduring lessons of courage. Deeds of daring dazzle history, and form one of the guiding lights of man. The dawn dares when it rises. To strive, to brave all risks, to persist, to persevere, to be faithful to yourself, to grapple hand to hand with destiny, to surprise defeat by the little terror it inspires, at one time to confront unrighteous power, at another to defy intoxicated triumph, to hold fast, to hold hard - such is the example which the nations need, and the light that electrifies them.
”
”
Victor Hugo (Les Misérables)
“
They say love is eternal...They say love is enduring. It always protects,always trust,always hopes,always perseveres.Love never fails...It is one of my favorite passages in the bible...There is a quality about that kind of love that transcends our mortal understanding.
”
”
K.J. Kilton (Bella's Dilemma)
“
There is never a guarantee of survival, no matter your strength or skill or wit. There is only the day you are conceived and the day you die, and all else is a series of moments you either embrace or endure.
”
”
Rachel L. Schade (Forsaken Kingdom (Silent Kingdom, #2))
“
I have come to learn,
that when people of money and power organize
to set upon to break a person they seek to silence,
and the person seems but a shadow of what they were,
under the endless barrage,
in the end when laid to rest,
the dignity, compassion and presence of the person
somehow endures,
and their words awaken to speak clearer than before.
As if torches ignite, when their flame is gone,
and the light of their truth,
Is brilliantly lit and once more born.
”
”
Tom Althouse
“
We women have within us a depth, a capacity for striving, that men for all their swords and wars don't comprehend. We can endure where they are brittle, we can persevere where they snap. It is our unique form of grace. And we will endure. We will persevere.
”
”
Phil Tucker (The Path of Flames (Chronicles of the Black Gate, #1))
“
It is easy to smile in the face of a challenge, when we believe in ourselves that we won't back down.
”
”
Ellen J. Barrier
“
Finish your race even if you must do it bruised and alone.
”
”
Naide P Obiang
“
You thought it would break you in two, but it made you twice as strong.
”
”
Eleanor Brownn
“
Although, the journey is long, keep traveling.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
“
The elegant and beautiful Lotus flower must toil through the mud and mire of murky swamps and shadowy waters of darkness before it can finally bloom. Above the fray of struggle yet firmly rooted in rugged beginnings, it ultimately lies pristinely above the water, basking in the sun of triumph. So no matter what you’ve endured or where you come from...you are no different and no less beautiful. There is simply no greater beauty than when a flower blossoms despite its tough and humble beginnings. ~Jason Versey
”
”
Jason Versey (A Walk with Prudence)
“
You were given the problems you have because you can solve them.
You were given the burdens you have because you can carry them.
You were given the trials you have because you can overcome them.
You were given the opponents you have because you can beat them.
You were given the enemies you have because you can conquer them.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
Speak, roofless Nature, your instinctive words;
And let me learn your secret from the sky,
Following a flock of steadfast-journeying birds
In lone remote migration beating by.
December stillness, crossed by twilight roads,
Teach me to travel far and bear my loads.
”
”
Siegfried Sassoon
“
It is not the best for us to lay embago on the industries that produce temptations. What we need to do is to compete, overcome and dominate the market with the products of our endurance. No battles we face, no crown will we win. No temptations exist, no conquerors are known.
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor
“
His will be done, as done it surely will be, whether we humble ourselves to resignation or not. The impulse of creation forwards it; the strength of powers, seen and unseen, has its fulfillment in charge. Proof of a life to come must be given. In fire and in blood, if needful, must that proof be written. In fire and in blood do we trace the record throughout nature. In fire and in blood does it cross our own experience. Sufferer, faint not through terror of this burning evidence. Tired wayfarer, gird up thy loins, look upward, march onward. Pilgrims and brother mourners, join in friendly company. Dark through the wilderness of this world stretches the way for most of us: equal and steady be our tread; be our cross our banner. For staff we have His promis, whose 'word is tried, whose way perfect": for present hope His providence, 'who gives the shield of salvation, whose gentleness makes great'; for final home His bosom, who 'dwells in the height of Heaven'; for crowning prize a glory exceeding and eternal. Let us so run that we may obtain: let us endure hardness as good soldiers; let us finish our course, and keep the faith, reliant in the issue to come off more than conquerors: 'Art though not from everlasting mine Holy One? WE SHALL NOT DIE!
”
”
Charlotte Brontë
“
But just as important, a careful accounting of days allows the isolated to note that another year of hardship has been endured; survived; bested. Whether they have found the strength to persevere through a tireless determination or some foolhardy optimism, those 365 hatch marks stand as proof of their indomitability. For after all, if attentiveness should be measured in minutes and discipline measured in hours, then indomitability must be measured in years.
”
”
Amor Towles (A Gentleman in Moscow)
“
You needed love to win at the game of music...I played of sadness. I played of loneliness. Despair. Love found and lost. I played of tragic misunderstanding and weary cynicism and defeat. I played of perseverance, endurance beyond all suffering. Endurance in the face of hopelessness, hope when even hope was a betrayal...And yet, though I played so much sadness, the music at the same time denied despair. How could anyone despair while music was being played?
”
”
Katherine Applegate
“
The heroic and often tragic stories of American whalemen were renowned. They sailed the world’s oceans and brought back tales filled with bravery, perseverance, endurance, and survival. They mutinied, murdered, rioted, deserted, drank, sang, spun yarns, scrimshawed, and recorded their musings and observations in journals and letters. They survived boredom, backbreaking work, tempestuous seas, floggings, pirates, putrid food, and unimaginable cold. Enemies preyed on them in times of war, and competitors envied them in times of peace. Many whalemen died from violent encounters with whales and from terrible miscalculations about the unforgiving nature of nature itself. And through it all, whalemen, those “iron men in wooden boats” created a legacy of dramatic, poignant, and at times horrific stories that can still stir our emotions and animate the most primal part of our imaginations. “To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme,” proclaimed Herman Melville, and the epic story of whaling is one of the mightiest themes in American history.
”
”
Eric Jay Dolin (Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America)
“
There is scarcely a quality which so much dignifies human nature as consistency of conduct -- and no weakness more deplorable than that of instability.
Examine, choose, compare, reject, but having once made your selection of profession, stand by your decision.
Difficulties, and privations, and hardships, must be encountered; but determination will overcome them all.
And not only sloth and folly, but even genius will be outdone by perseverance.
It often is the case that he who can endure the most is in the end the most successful.
”
”
Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz (Dr. Mütter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine)
“
Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn’t something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn’t get in, and walk through it, step by step.
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Haruki Murakami (Kafka on the Shore)
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My God, Sweetness beyond words, make bitter all the carnal comfort that draws me from love of the eternal and lures me to its evil self by the sight of some delightful good in the present. Let it not overcome me, my God. Let not flesh and blood conquer me. Let not the world and its brief glory deceive me, nor the devil trip me by his craftiness. Give me courage to resist, patience to endure, and constancy to persevere. Give me the soothing unction of Your spirit rather than all the consolations of the world, and in place of carnal love, infuse into me the love of Your name.
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Thomas à Kempis (The Imitation of Christ)
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I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. The fifteen-year-old boy who landed on his head while wrestling with his brother, leaving him paralyzed and barely able to swallow or speak. Travis Roy, paralyzed in the first eleven seconds of a hockey game in his freshman year at college. Harry Steifel, paralyzed from the chest down in a car accident at seventeen, completing his education and working on Wall Street at age thirty-two, but having missed so much of what life has to offer. These are the real heroes, and so are the many families and friends who have stood by them.
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Christopher Reeve (Still Me)
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Someone once said that the challenge of living is to develop a long obedience in the same direction. When it's demanded, we can rise on occasion and be patient . . . as long as there are limits. But we balk when patience is required over a long haul. We don't much like endurance. It's painful to persevere through a marriage that's forever struggling. A church that never crest 100 members. Housekeeping routines that never vary from week-to-week. Even caring for an elderly parent or a handicapped child can feel like a long obedience in the same direction.
If only we could open our spiritual eyes to see the fields of grain we're planting, growing, and reaping along the way. That's what happens when we endure...
Right now you may be in the middle of a long stretch of the same old routine.... You don't hear any cheers or applause. The days run together―and so do the weeks. Your commitment to keep putting one foot in front of the other is starting to falter.
Take a moment and look at the fruit. Perseverance. Determination. Fortitude. Patience.
Your life is not a boring stretch of highway. It's a straight line to heaven. And just look at the fields ripening along the way. Look at the tenacity and endurance. Look at the grains of righteousness. You'll have quite a crop at harvest . . . so don't give up!
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Joni Eareckson Tada (Holiness in Hidden Places)