Henri Nouwen Quotes

Life, like classical music, is full of difficult passages that are conquered as much through endurance and determination as through any particular skill.

Watch and pray, dear, never get tired of trying, and never think it is impossible to conquer your fault.

Who climbs the mountain does not always climb.The winding road slants downward many a time;Yet each descent is higher than the last.

Having a dream is what keeps you alive. Overcoming the challenges makes life worth living.

The most successful people in the world aren't usually the brightest. They are the ones who persevere.

This hill though high I covent ascend; The difficulty will not me offend; For I perceive the way of life lies here. Come, pluck up, heart; let's neither faint nor fear.

I want to accept all the difficulties that face me in life with perseverance and patience.

What is harder than rock, or softer than water? Yet soft water hollows out hard rock. Persevere.

Purity, patience and perseverance overcome all obstacles. All great things must of necessity be slow.

For, after all, every one who wishes to gain true knowledge must climb the Hill Difficulty alone, and since there is no royal road to the summit, I must zigzag it in my own way. I slip back many times, I fall, I stand still, I run against the edge of hidden obstacles, I lose my temper and find it again and keep it better, I trudge on, I gain a little, I feel encouraged, I get more eager and climb higher and begin to see the widening horizon. Every struggle is a victory. One more effort and I reach the luminous cloud, the blue depths of the sky, the uplands of my desire.

It will come all right in the end. There is the steady impulse of your determination that sets you on your feet again after every downfall and breakdown. Gradually the obstacles are all overcome and your current becomes stronger. Everything comes right in the end. Steady determination is what is required.

Mastery of creative tension brings out the capacity for perseverance and patience. Time is an ally.

Patient perseverance in well doing is infinitely harder than a sudden and impulsive self-sacrifice.

All I've undergone I will keep on.

I'm gonna fight, and I'm gonna make something out of nothing. That's pretty much the American dream. So, for me, the realization that I could speak to people like that came first on a small scale. Then it just started happening. I started having this vibration.

Not to the swift, the race: Not to the strong, the fight: Not to the righteous, perfect grace: Not to the wise, the light. But often faltering feet Come surest to the goal; And they who walk in darkness meet The sunrise of the soul.

Hold on to your dream. Don't let the people shake you from your dream. Don't let form become more important than the substance of your heart and mind. Don't let commerce determine what you do exclusively.

Only a burning patience will lead to the attainment of a splendid happiness.

Why don't people's hearts tell them to continue to follow their dreams? [...] Because that's what makes a heart suffer most, and hearts don't like to suffer.

The only way things will happen is if people get over the notion that they must see immediate success. If they get over that notion and persist, then they will see things happen before they even realize it.

Character produces endurance and persistence when the going gets tough, and life truly is an endurance race, not a sprint.

Just know on the inside that you won't quit. That's it. There is nothing else. Shakespeare said, 'To thine own self be true'. I don't know what the @*$% he meant by that, but just don't quit on yourself. It's worth it. The juice is worth the squeeze. I assure you.

Life is an endless, truly endless struggle. There's no time when we're going to arrive at a plateau where the whole thing gets sorted. It's a struggle in the way every plant has to find it's own way to stand up straight. A lot of the time it's a failure. And yet it's not a failure if some enlightenment comes from it.

If we grow weary and give up, the goal remains for someone else to achieve.