Precept & Practice – JANUARY 26 – Perseverance

The first act of the will, which consists in a mere choice, a wish or a vow to be good, must be followed out by actual exertion, by deep and persevering effort.   The ploughshare must be pressed firmly into the ground that is overspread with noxious weeds.   Otherwise we till for the weeds and not for the good seed, which will not take root on the surface.

Follen

Persevere in the instant fight again in the teeth of that discouraged feeling which follows failure, almost preventing one from at once starting fresh.

There are only two roads by which any important goal can be reached – sheer strength and perseverance. 

Goethe.

oooOOOooo

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