Perseverance and its virtues

To remain steadfast, hopeful, optimistic and courageous against all odds or unfavorable circumstances is said to be perseverance, which is the hallmark of achieving great and seemingly impossible targets. Perseverance is an essential quality of character, especially for those holding high-level offices and great responsibilities. Thanks to their persistence, perseverance, courage and strong will power, many great people, as the history witnesses, have been able to overcome all the barricades and impediments in their ways towards success. No difficulty, problems, unfavorable situations can shake their indomitable will and unflinching faith in their attempt to reach their goal successfully.

Regrettably, a great deal of talent is lost because of lack of perseverance. Hesitation, wavering, faltering and vacillating or failure to stick with one task till its completion always results in a fiasco, entailing disappointment and hopelessness. Those who are not single-minded and do not set a target always fall short of achieving their desired goals.

The fisher who draws in his net too soon,
Won’t have any fish to sell;
The child who shuts up his book too soon,
Won’t learn any lessons well.

If you would have your learning stay,
Be patient ---- don’t learn too fast;
The man who travels a mile each day,
May get round the world at last.


There are numerous moral stories exhorting the virtues and benefits of perseverance. Aesop’s household familiar fable of the tortoise and the hare give us very inspiring and motivational lesson of “Slow and steady wins the race”. It must be borne in mind that constant sincere efforts can even move mountains. A constant dripping can wear away even a stone.

However, persistence and perseverance cannot yield us any fruit whatsoever unless they are coupled with practical intelligence. The fable of the crow and the pitcher of Aesop’s tells us that where there is a will accompanied by practical intelligence, there is a way. A person who is merely persistent may be a carping, pestering, irksome annoyance, having no salutary effect whatsoever. Perseverance without hard work, sincerity of purpose, purity of intention and commitment for a great cause is of no use; rather such perseverance can cause damage instead of doing any good to us. It would be pertinent to quote Thomas Edison here, who said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

It is, therefore, imperative for us to be optimistic and make constant efforts with courage and hope to get our cherished goals. Continued efforts coupled with sincerity and purity of intention is sure to bring us a resounding success in the long run. We must always remember that despair is sin. Therefore, disappointment, frustration and hopelessness must not be allowed to dampen our spirit. We must try and try again. We must hope against hope till we meet success, which is promised to those who remain steadfast, persistent and perseverant.

We must not hope to be mowers,
And to gather the ripe gold ears,
Unless we have first been sowers
And watered the furrows with tears.

It is not just as we take it,
This mystical world of ours,
Life’s field will yield as we make it.
A harvest of thorns or of flowers. (Johann Wolfgang)


Let’s work harder than before with renewed vigor and enthusiasm. Let’s defeat evils and make our world happy Eden by our constant efforts and perseverance.


REGARDS