“Genius is only the power of making continuous efforts. The line between failure and success is so fine that we scarcely know when we pass it; so fine that we are often on the line and do not know it. How many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more patience would have achieved success? A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed a hopeless failure may turn into a glorious success. … There is no defeat except within, no really insurmountable barrier save one’s own inherent weakness of purpose.”
~ Joseph B. Wirthlin
Winston Churchill is well known for his determination as the leader of Great Britain during World War II. On one occasion in his later years, he returned to a school where he had studied as a boy. Before he arrived, the headmaster told the students, “The greatest Britisher of our time is going to come to this school, and I want every one of you to be here with your notebooks. I want you to write down what he says, because his speech will be something for you to remember all your lives.” The elderly statesman came in and was introduced. His glasses were down on the end of his nose, as usual. He stood and delivered the following words from an immortal speech that he once gave in Parliament.
He said, “Never, never, never give up”
Then he sat down. That was the speech.
~ (“These Are Great Days,” in War Speeches, ed. Charles Eada).
