Those who attain any excellence, commonly spend life in one pursuit; for excellence is not often gained upon easier terms.
Interpretation
Achieving excellence requires dedication to a singular pursuit, as it is rarely attained without hard work.
This quote by Samuel Johnson emphasizes that those who achieve excellence typically do so by focusing their efforts on a specific goal or pursuit. It suggests that success is not simply handed to individuals; instead, it demands perseverance, commitment, and the willingness to navigate challenges along the way, highlighting that true excellence is often the result of sustained effort rather than a series of easy wins.
In practice
In a motivational speech to a group of students about the importance of focus on their goals.
To be of no church is dangerous. Religion, of which the rewards are distant, and which is animated only by faith and hope, will glide by degrees out of the mind unless it be invigorated and reimpressed by external ordinances, by stated calls to worship, and the salutary influence of example.
He that reads and grows no wiser seldom suspects his own deficiency, but complains of hard words and obscure sentences, and asks why books are written which cannot be understood.
To let friendship die away by negligence and silence is certainly not wise. It is voluntarily to throw away one of the greatest comforts of the weary pilgrimage.
Fly-fishing may be a very pleasant amusement; but angling or float fishing I can only compare to a stick and a string, with a worm at one end and a fool at the other.
When any anxiety or gloom of the mind takes hold of you, make it a rule not to publish it by complaining; but exert yourselves to hide it, and by endeavoring to hide it you drive it away.
A fishing rod is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool at the other.
In football, the result is an impostor. You can do things really, really well but not win. There's something greater than the result, more lasting - a legacy.
The entrepreneur rarely thinks in terms of what he or she wants, but dreams about results - always results and nothing but results - that can solve someone else's problem or contribute to making someone else's life better.
As I started to consider a career in music, I hoped for success, truthfully. I didn't imagine anything that would amass the level of the first record, but I hoped that I would be able to sustain a career.
I have stocked shelves, waited on tables, and bartended. I have been a salesperson at many levels. Each giving me a unique view of what made a company successful and, even more importantly, what made a company fail.
My advice for an entrepreneur just starting out is to differentiate yourself. Why are you different? Whatβs important about you? Why does the customer need you?
Building a mission and building a business go hand-in-hand. It is true that the primary thing that makes me excited about what we're doing is the mission, but I also think, from the very beginning, we've had this healthy understanding which is that we need to do both.
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