In real life, depth of commitment is more important than talent. It’s more important than beauty or skill, more important even than luck, because its produce is perseverance, endurance, tenacity.
There are things in my life that I just know will be. It's not a question. There are things I'm just not willing to give up on. It may take years or even decades longer than I'd hoped. I may shelf it for a while. But it will come to be, when the time is right. And I know because I'm not willing to give up. I'll keep hammering away at it or die trying.
In part, I took my new name in honor of Calvin Coolidge's famous quote:
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
I may not be the fastest, but if there's something I really want, I don't give up. This quote has given me hope many times when I've been down.
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