Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.
Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.
HT Henry David ThoreauEssayist & naturalist · 1817–1862What this quote means
Success often arrives as a by-product of absorbed, useful work rather than from chasing it directly. Do the work well and recognition tends to follow.
Context
American naturalist and author of Walden, who wrote on simplicity, nature, and living deliberately.
This line is among the quotes by Henry David Thoreau that readers return to on success — a small, portable reminder to carry into the morning.
Keep going
Related quotes
People of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them; they went out and happened to things.
Nothing will work unless you do.