3
RESISTANCE
It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues.
—ABIGAIL ADAMS TO HER SON JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, IN THE MIDST OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
From the beginning of recorded history through May 6, 1954, the fastest any human being had ever run a mile was 4:01.4—four minutes, one second, and four-tenths of a second. There was no reason any person needed to run a mile faster than that. Nothing important in life hinged on running 5,280 feet fast enough to turn that leading four into a three. But the same can be said for pursuing excellence: the standard of “good enough” ...
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