The Quotation IndexThe trusted reference for quotations and the sources behind them
Tag Tag Achievement
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
Ralph Waldo Emerson Circles · 1841

Quotes

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope.”

Helen Keller · Optimism, 1903 · Primary source

“It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal behind it.”

Arnold J. Toynbee · A Study of History, 1934-1961 · Primary source

“A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.”

Ayn Rand · The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z, 1986 · Primary source

“Let me tell you the secret that led me to my success. My only strength is my tenacity.”

Louis Pasteur · Oeuvres de Pasteur, 1922 · Primary source

“The value of the goal lies in the goal itself; and therefore the goal cannot be attained unless it is pursued for its own sake.”

Arnold J. Toynbee · A Study of History, 1934-1961 · Primary source

“Either write things worth reading, or do things worth writing.”

Benjamin Franklin · Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1732-1758 · Primary source

“No gains without pains.”

Benjamin Franklin · Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1732-1758 · Primary source

“No man ever was glorious who was not laborious.”

Benjamin Franklin · Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1732-1758 · Primary source

“’Tis a shame that your family is an honor to you! You ought to be an honor to your family.”

Benjamin Franklin · Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1732-1758 · Primary source

“Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

Thomas Edison · Professor gets Many Autographs: Edison, Other Great Men Respond, 1932 · Secondary source

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt · The Strenuous Life, 1900 · Primary source

“I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.”

Theodore Roosevelt · The Strenuous Life, 1900 · Primary source

“Never interrupt someone doing something you said couldn’t be done.”

Amelia Earhart · No reliable source

“Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson · No reliable source

Related Tags

Purpose 31 Mortality 30 Resilience 30 Perseverance 29 Risk 29 Courage 25 Action 23 Initiative 21 Persistence 19 Discipline 19 Effort 18 Ambition 17 Commitment 17 Reputation 16 Diligence 15 Aspiration 12 Failure 12 Hope 12 Motivation 11 Sacrifice 10 Optimism 9 Possibility 6 Creativity 6 Hard work 6 Intrinsic motivation 5 Personal responsibility 5 Work 4 Competition 3 Hardship 3 Tenacity 3 Scepticism 2 Goals 2 Legacy 2 Family 2 Enthusiasm 2 Scientific work 2 Productive work 1 Authorship 1 Merit 1 Striving 1 Sustained effort 1