The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.
Interpretation
The true achievement lies in having the courage to begin a challenge rather than just completing it.
This quote emphasizes the importance of courage in initiating action. Many people may find it daunting to start something new, but the real miracle is not only in the completion of a task but in the willingness to take that initial step, overcoming fear and doubt in the process.
In practice
In a motivational speech to encourage startup entrepreneurs.
If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run.
It was foolish indeed - thus to run farther and farther from all who could help her, as if she had been seeking a fit spot for the goblin creature to eat her in at his leisure; but that is the way fear serves us: it always sides with the thing we are afraid of.
As far as this business of solitary confinement goes, the most important thing for survival is communication with someone, even if it's only a wave or a wink, a tap on the wall, or to have a guy put his thumb up. It makes all the difference.
Fear can be one of the most destructive emotions. It is, of course, also very important, in that fear sometimes stops you from doing stupid things. But it can also stop you from doing creative or exciting or experimental things. It can cloud your judgement of others, and lead to all kinds of evil. The control and understanding of our personal fears is one of the most important undertakings of our lives.
I think I would have drank myself to death, literally, if I didn't just stop, once and for all when I did. I am not ever going to preach to anyone about drugs or drinking. But, for me, when they were around, I had no self control.
Freedom only comes through persistent revolt, through persistent agitation, through persistently rising up against the system of evil.
Fear is, I believe, a most effective tool in destroying the soul of an individual - and the soul of a people.
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