They criticize me for harping on the obvious; if all the folks in the United States would do the few simple things they know they ought to do, most of our big problems would take care of themselves.
Calvin CoolidgeRead
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Interpretation
Persistence is more important than talent for achieving success.
This quote by Calvin Coolidge emphasizes that while talent is valuable, it is persistence that truly drives a person towards success. Many individuals possess talent but fail to achieve their goals due to a lack of perseverance; thus, determination and relentless effort are the key ingredients for attaining one's aspirations.
In practice
In a motivational speech at a conference about achievement.
They criticize me for harping on the obvious; if all the folks in the United States would do the few simple things they know they ought to do, most of our big problems would take care of themselves.
It is difficult for men in high office to avoid the malady of self-delusion. They are always surrounded by worshipers. They are constantly, and for the most part sincerely, assured of their greatness.
America's present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration; not agitation, but adjustment; not surgery, but serenity; not the dramatic, but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise; not submergence in internationality, but sustainment in triumphant nationality.
No method of procedure has ever been devised by which liberty could be divorced from local self-government. No plan of centralization has ever been adopted which did not result in bureaucracy, tyranny, inflexibility, reaction, and decline.
Whether one traces his Americanism back three centuries to the Mayflower, or three years to the steerage, is not half so important as whether his Americanism of today is real and genuine. No matter by what various crafts we came here, we are all now in the same boat.
The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country.
I don't want to sit around the house. I want to be out there. I want to go to practice. I want to be in the huddles. That's me.
Our chief defect is that we are more given to talking about things than to doing them.
I have to believe that somebody up there thinks I've still got some work to do.
I wasn't the most prodigiously talented cricketer in Karnataka, let alone India. Some of my team-mates in my school team could hit the ball cleaner than I do. I had to work through that lack of talent, so to speak, that lack of natural flair. Runs never came easy for me.
Live your days on the positive side of life, in tune with your most treasured values. And in each moment you'll have much to live for.
Perform at your best when your best is required. Your best is required each day.
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