Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.
HL Henry Wadsworth LongfellowPoet · 1807–1882What this quote means
Greatness is rarely a sudden leap; it is built quietly, through steady effort while others rest. The image of toiling upward at night honors the unseen work behind any height worth reaching.
Context
One of the most beloved American poets of the nineteenth century, known for lyrical, memorable verse on perseverance and the passage of time.
This line is among the quotes by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that readers return to on success, drawn from The Ladder of St. Augustine — a small, portable reminder to carry into the morning.
Tags
Keep going
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