Precept & Practice – JANUARY 11 – Unity of Purpose

There is one feature that is always prominent in those who are strong personalities, and that is a unity of purpose, a concentration of mind, a fixed determination which pursues its object steadily and without wavering.   Whether it be a statesman, a general, a merchant, or a minister of God, they are all alike in this, that their motto is that of St. Paul, ‘One thing I do.’   And this unity of purpose is what religious people call consecration.   It is the separation of one duty, one ambition, one resolve from all others, and giving it the prominent place in the life, It is the application to human life of that which is often done with buildings, vessels, and the like, 

The Reverend G. H. S. Walpole, (Personality and Power)

The secret of success is concentration:  wherever there has been a great life, or a great work, that has gone before.   Taste everything a little, look at everything a little;  but live for one thing.   Anything is possible to a man who knows his end, and moves straight for it, and for it alone. 

Ralph Iron

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From the Introduction to Precept and Practice

The kindly welcome given to my other little books, ‘Being and Doing’ and ‘Character and Conduct,’ must be my excuse for adding another collection of extracts to the number now in circulation.

The quotations are gathered from the books of many earnest thinkers, and deal with Life in all its length and breadth, with ourselves, our characters, our plain unvarnished faults and weaknesses, our often untoward circumstances, and with all that drags us down;-  with our purposes, our religion, our love and friendships, and with all that uplifts us;-  with our relation to others, our influence and responsibilities, and finally with those stages of our journey which bring us to the Road’s Last Turn and to the Silent Land.

CONSTANCE  M. WHISHAW