Judith Viorst Quotes

I didn't have any success in show business until I was 30 to 31 years of age.

I believe success is delayed failure.

I was 40 years old before I became an overnight success, and I'd been publishing for 20 years.

It's so funny looking back, but my so-called overnight success actually took 15 years. I remember when I didn't have any money, and my only car was mom's Hyundai.

I'm what is known as a 40-year overnight success.

Younger songwriters will ask me, 'What did you do?' And it's like, 'Well, I worked a day job, and I didn't stake anything. I didn't quit my day job. I didn't have any hopes at all. I just did the thing that I believed in, and I waited a long time.'

You can see that all these people who did really great things failed six times or didn't get going until they were much older. I think that's much more instructive and educational.

Jack Nicholson didn't get anything until he was in his thirties. You have to persevere and put yourself in positions, and sooner or later, you will break through.

I didn't find success immediately.

I think the most difficult part is being patient for good work to come. Sometimes, you feel like giving up if things don't materialise in a short period of time.

It took me 30 years for people to consider me an overnight success.

I didn't really get any success till I was 30 years old. I played music when I was young fella, but I didn't really get any success till I was about 30 years old.

You know, it's nice being an overnight success after 50 years.

A lot of people may know me for my music now. It took me almost 14 years to get where I am, and it was really hard.

You learn after losing quite a bit, year after year, that you have to continue to work hard, stay tough, and endure to the end before it's going to work out.

When you're young, you want things to happen right away. And sometimes that doesn't always develop in the way you want it to. But my thing was to continue to work, in whatever element I could.

Grit can't be measured on pop quizzes, but it can often predict long-term success more than mere intelligence.

Keep what you've got till you get what you need, y'all. You gotta give a lot just to get what you need sometimes, y'all.

Look at my success. I didn't achieve it overnight. It has been the product of many years' struggle, and every year, my times have shown gradual improvement.

It was tough to fail year after year. I never even got to the final stage until I got my card on the Web.com Tour. But I always believed that I could be something special. I just had to prove it to myself.

Nothing came to me overnight unlike many others in the industry.

I feel you can be down and out but if you are determined, nothing can stop you from winning.

Naw, it - it never stops, man... You gotta be doing what you're supposed to be doing - whenever, however it's coming down, you know. If you're getting your butt kicked - you still gotta do what you gotta be doing.

When times are down, keep believing, keep working hard, and things will pick up.

To me, the most shocking thing about grit is how little we know, how little science knows, about building it. Every day, parents and teachers ask me, 'How do I build grit in kids? What do I do to teach kids a solid work ethic? How do I keep them motivated for the long run?' The honest answer is, I don't know.