"Because, if one is writing novels today, concentrating on the beauty of the prose is right up there with concentrating on your semi-colons, for wasted effort."
Effort quotes
Effort
3.6K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Topics related to Effort
Browse quotes that often appear alongside effort — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Effort quotes (page 23 of 179)
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"This Ariyan Eightfold Path, that is to say: Right view, right aim, right speech, right action, right living, right effort, right mindfulness, right contemplation."
"I hold it to be of great prudence for men to abstain from threats and insulting words towards any one, for neither the one nor the other in any way diminishes the strength of the enemy; but the one makes him more cautious, and the other increases his hatred of you, and makes him more persevering in his efforts to injure you"
"In other words, let's face it: Life is basically unfair. But even in a situation that's unfair, I think it's possible to seek out a kind of fairness. Of course, that might take time and effort. And maybe it won't seem to be worth all that. It's up to each individual to decide whether or not it is."
"Reasonable men adapt themselves to their environment; unreasonable men try to adapt their environment to themselves. Thus all progress is the result of the efforts of unreasonable men."
"Prayer is not a substitute for work; it is an effort to work further and be efficient beyond the range of one's powers."
"The effort of art is to keep what is interesting in existence, to recreate it in the eternal."
"Prayer, among sane people, has never superseded practical efforts to secure the desired end."
"Perhaps the chief requirement of [the conductor] is that he be humble before the composer; that he never interpose himself between the music and the audience; that all his efforts, however strenuous or glamorous, be made in the service of the composer's meaning - the music itself, which, after all, is the whole reason for the conductor's existence."
"Energy is the inherent effort of every multiplicity to become unity."
"He who would really benefit mankind must reach them through their work."
"Never follow your dreams. Follow your effort."
"My world of human beings had perished. I was utterly alone in the world and for friends I had the streets, and the streets spoke to me in that sad, bitter language compounded of human misery, yearning, regret, failure, wasted effort"
"Music is the effort we make to explain to ourselves how our brains work. We listen to Bach transfixed because this is listening to a human mind."
"The month of November makes me feel that life is passing more quickly. In an effort to slow it down, I try to fill the hours more meaningfully."
"I'll try any guitar just to see if it's different in an effort to see if it will lead me anywhere. I'm trying to have a guitar built. What's needed is better instruments, better amplifiers, better hardware for electric music to get better."
"Achievers have a can-do attitude that sets them apart from mere dreamers. Achievers are sold out to success-no matter the obstacles-and they are willing to put forth the effort and pay the price of success."
"When someone has tried to please you, it is rude, as well as disheartening, to respond by announcing that the effort was a failure."
"I have not so great a struggle with my vices, great and numerous as they are, as I have with my impatience. My efforts are not absolutely useless; yet I have never been able to conquer this ferocious wild beast."
"Mistakes, scandals, and failures no longer signal catastrophe. The crucial thing is that they be made credible, and that the public be made aware of the efforts being expended in that direction. The marketing immunity of governments is similar to that of the major brands of washing powder."