138
FORBES.COM OCTOBER 20 20Persistence
THOUGHTS ON
SOURCES: FABLES, BY JEAN DE LA FONTAINE; A SERVANT TO SERVANTS, BY ROBERT
FROST; THE ROSE THAT GREW FROM CONCRETE, BY TUPAC SHAKUR; THE ROAD,
BY CORMAC MCCARTHY; THE LUCK OF BARRY LYNDON, BY WILLIAM MAKEPEACE
THACKERAY; JANE EYRE, BY CHARLOTTE BRONTË; 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, BY ARTHUR
C. CLARKE; PRINCIPLES, BY RAY DALIO.“Persistence earns more
than a mere existence.”
—B.C. ForbesFINAL THOUGHT
Fate had already tried to fi nish off Sumner Redstone.
“At 56, he stared death in the face” after getting badly
burned in a hotel fi re that he survived by hanging from a
third-fl oor window ledge. “Somehow reenergized, he
pulled his way from being just another wealthy man
to a media magnate on a level with Rupert Murdoch
and Ted Turner.” Fifteen years later, the 71-year-old
Redstone was still actively adding to his $3.8 billion
fortune—beating out Barry Diller a year earlier in a
bid for Paramount—and would continue to do so for
decades, even as his deteriorating health left him
bedridden and unable to speak. He died at 97 in August,
just eight months after fi nishing his latest bit of empire
tending: recombining CBS and Viacom.The Endless Sumner
October 17, 1994“ The drop of rain maketh
a hole in the stone—not by
violence, but by oft falling.”
—Bishop Hugh Latimer“ Patience and time do more
than force and rage.”
—Jean de La Fontaine“ The best way out is always
through.”
—Robert Frost“ Long live the rose that grew
from concrete when no one
else even cared.”
—Tupac Shakur“ Nothing in this world can
take the place of persistence.
Persistence and determination
alone are omnipotent.”
—Calvin Coolidge“ Keep a little fi re burning,
however small, however
hidden.”
—Cormac McCarthy“ Dare, and the world always
yields—or, if it beats you
sometimes, dare again, and
it will succumb.”
— William Makepeace
Thackeray“ Whatever menaced,
harassed, warned, I passed
impetuous by. Still bright
on clouds of suff ering dim.
Shines that soft, solemn joy.”
—Charlott e Brontë“ A hundred failures would
not matter, when one
single success could change
the destiny of the world.”
—Arthur C. Clarke“ Perseverance is the foundation
of all actions.”
—Lao Tzu“ If you feel passionate
about something in your
soul, continue to pursue it.
Pursue it with all the love
you have.”
—Common“ Never rule out a goal
because you think it’s
unattainable. Be audacious.”
—Ray Dalio“ I always try to convert
a moon shot into an
Earth shot.”
—Martine Rothblatt“ Timing, perseverance and
ten years of trying will
eventually make you look
like an overnight success.”
—Biz Stone“ I did not have the most
experience in the industry or
the most money, but I cared
the most.”
—Sara Blakely“ We are affl icted in every
way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not driven to
despair; persecuted, but not
forsaken; struck down, but
not destroyed.”
—2 Corinthians 4:8