Chapter 9. Persistence and Your Identity

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

—Calvin Coolidge

As I look back over my own life, and as I think about the great lives of the remarkable men and woman I have been blessed to know, I’ve come to think of all of us as works of art in progress. And the thing I’ve learned about great artists is that they hang in there through thick and thin. They don’t give up. They’re loyal to their values and their vision. Persistence has gotten to be a ...

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