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“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” ― Calvin Coolidge

yhoneycomb 8y ago
Depends in what field. Being persistent will never give you the facial features to become a male model.
- hokua3 8y ago
  you could be the before picture
  - brightball 8y ago
    I laughed way too hard at this
- raverbashing 8y ago
  "But why male models" But at this day and age of modern cosmetic surgery, yes it does. (At least you need persistence to get the money to afford it)
  - taneq 8y ago
    Because they're obedient! >>> Being persistent will never give you the facial features to become a male model. >> Yes it does! > Okay. nods
- JoeAltmaier 8y ago
  Plenty of not-handsome actors out there, even historically.
- thoughtexplorer 8y ago
  Being persistent while 3 feet tall will never get you into the NBA. So you find something else to be persistent with. Conversely, being 7 feet tall isn't enough on its own. You still need persistence to get into the NBA. Those born with the right skull shape still need persistence and discipline with diet and exercise to make it as a model. Persistence is still critical to rise above the crowd with most things.
bryanrasmussen 8y ago
Every successful person always ascribes that success to their dominant attribute. And coins an aphorism about it. - Bryan Rasmussen
- harry8 8y ago
  Dominant attribute? Or simply the one they want people to believe about themselves. The dominant for at least some seems to be being able to tolerate their own excessively vile behaviour.
  - bryanrasmussen 8y ago
    maybe, however the parent quote was from Coolidge, and when I read it I thought - what the hell else would you expect Coolidge to say? He's not going to suggest liking people, being clever and listening, being willing to look at things in a new way etc.
lmm 8y ago
> Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. People who persevere but fail are also very common, so this does not prove its claim.
- thomasfedb 8y ago
  Perhaps it is necessary but not sufficient?
  - virgilp 8y ago
    There are instances of success without perseverance. For instance, the guy who invented GANs did it in one evening, more or less on a whim. One could argue that education and probably IQ were the dominant enablers there.
    - pimmen 8y ago
      Maybe he attained the skills necessary to invent GANs in one evening through years of persistent learning?
      - virgilp 8y ago
        Right but if you postulate that "perseverance" is prerequisite for "education" then why would Coolidge list it separately, as an argument that "it's not enough"? Also, there are other examples of success without perseverance. Obvious ones are inherited success: e.g. just being born as king makes one - well, a king. No perseverance necessary. FWIW, I do think it's a game of probabilities - all these traits (education, IQ, perseverance etc) increase your odds of success to certain degree - and none of them guarantee it.
        didibus 8y ago
        Gotta define success first. Seems we're ascribing it to mean power and wealth. Which is different from invention and technological innovation, or athletic achievements, or happiness, or longevity, or health, or lived experiences, or total percentage of time spent laughing, or comfort, or number of children, number of romances, sexual prowess, etc. I feel our culture currently holds a strange definition of success, that of wealth mostly. So in that sense, ya, IQ might not matter that much.
maceurt 8y ago
That is the quote I most remember from the movie, the founder. I did not know Calvin Coolidge was originally the guy who said it.
dijit 8y ago
With the danger of sounding conceited: I have lived this. Me and my sister are polar opposites in everything, I’m lazy. She’s motivated. I tended to be above average when tested. She tended to be below average when tested. She wanted nothing more than being outside in nature and I wanted nothing more than being inside and messing with my computer. Hell. Even down to the fact she has a boys name and I have a girls name (I’m a guy) and that I was skinny and she was not. She is now a barrister, something that I could never have become. I was close to being a shelf-stocker at the UK equivalent of wal-mart but ironically they wouldn’t have me. If not for the fact that this industry is a huge bubble I would be on my arse. And why? Because I’m lazy and smart. And she is persistent and dumb. I have tremendous respect for my sister, but it’s a fact that her success is down to her persistence. She never gives up. Even when people dump all over her for being slow or sounding thick. She’s awesome. We could all learn something from her.
- charlesdm 8y ago
  The question is, is she a good barrister? Not trying to play down her achievements, but in the end, anyone can graduate in law if they put in enough time and effort. As an example: I once had a tax dispute where I was represented by a lawyer who I felt was not very sharp. We were losing / going to lose the case. Realising the mistake I had made retaining him, I swapped to a senior lawyer of a named tax law firm. He was extremely sharp and experienced, and would think 10 steps ahead. He was also a bit lazy though (which is fine, so am I at times). But he's hands down the best professional I have ever worked with -- the only person I would ever trust without having to double check his work. I prefer the smart lawyer, as opposed to any person with a law degree. The fact that the first guy in my example persevered and got a law degree says absolutely nothing about his ability.
qubax 8y ago
Like all quotes, on first glance it appears insightful and impressive, but a closer second look reveals it to be nonsense. > Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Luck and circumstance can. > Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. The world is also full of persistent failures as well. > Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The Axis powers in ww2 were as persistent and determined as the allies. You could argue they were even more persistent and determined. They failed. Has there been a more persistent and determined presidential candidate than Hillary Clinton? She failed twice. If persistence was all it took, Hillary would have been president. People love to pat themselves on the back for their successes. If coolidge was born into a black family in the 1800s rather than into an elite new england family, I wonder how much persistence and determination would have mattered. Persistence is an important characteristic in life, but there are far more to success than persistence.
- brightball 8y ago
  “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Preparation comes from persistence.
  - beefield 8y ago
    > “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” "Your parents have funny names for their genitals" I think that luck is the only one you can't replace.
  - jarfil 8y ago
    Not true. Luck is just random, preparation allows to spot more opportunities, but no amount of preparation will make up for a lack of them.
tyingq 8y ago
That does ring somewhat true, but I think there's more than just determination and intelligence that could affect success. Things like charisma, gravitas, luck / right place and time, attractiveness, height, inherited wealth or relationships, etc. Shortfalls in any of these can be made up by excesses in others.
watwut 8y ago
If unrewarded genius proves that genius is not the thing, then unrewarded persistent person should prove persistence is not the thing either. And there are plenty of unrewarded persistent people. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent, but also, there are plenty of persistent people around who are unsuccessful.
- CPLX 8y ago
  > Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent That’s arguable. I would hazard a guess that unsuccessful men without talent may be a larger group.
  - watwut 8y ago
    I was quoting parent at that point.

yhoneycomb 8y ago

Depends in what field. Being persistent will never give you the facial features to become a male model.

hokua3 8y ago
you could be the before picture
- brightball 8y ago
  I laughed way too hard at this
raverbashing 8y ago
"But why male models" But at this day and age of modern cosmetic surgery, yes it does. (At least you need persistence to get the money to afford it)
- taneq 8y ago
  Because they're obedient! >>> Being persistent will never give you the facial features to become a male model. >> Yes it does! > Okay. nods
JoeAltmaier 8y ago
Plenty of not-handsome actors out there, even historically.
thoughtexplorer 8y ago
Being persistent while 3 feet tall will never get you into the NBA. So you find something else to be persistent with. Conversely, being 7 feet tall isn't enough on its own. You still need persistence to get into the NBA. Those born with the right skull shape still need persistence and discipline with diet and exercise to make it as a model. Persistence is still critical to rise above the crowd with most things.

bryanrasmussen 8y ago

Every successful person always ascribes that success to their dominant attribute. And coins an aphorism about it. - Bryan Rasmussen

harry8 8y ago
Dominant attribute? Or simply the one they want people to believe about themselves. The dominant for at least some seems to be being able to tolerate their own excessively vile behaviour.
- bryanrasmussen 8y ago
  maybe, however the parent quote was from Coolidge, and when I read it I thought - what the hell else would you expect Coolidge to say? He's not going to suggest liking people, being clever and listening, being willing to look at things in a new way etc.

lmm 8y ago

> Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. People who persevere but fail are also very common, so this does not prove its claim.

thomasfedb 8y ago
Perhaps it is necessary but not sufficient?
- virgilp 8y ago
  There are instances of success without perseverance. For instance, the guy who invented GANs did it in one evening, more or less on a whim. One could argue that education and probably IQ were the dominant enablers there.
  - pimmen 8y ago
    Maybe he attained the skills necessary to invent GANs in one evening through years of persistent learning?
    - virgilp 8y ago
      Right but if you postulate that "perseverance" is prerequisite for "education" then why would Coolidge list it separately, as an argument that "it's not enough"? Also, there are other examples of success without perseverance. Obvious ones are inherited success: e.g. just being born as king makes one - well, a king. No perseverance necessary. FWIW, I do think it's a game of probabilities - all these traits (education, IQ, perseverance etc) increase your odds of success to certain degree - and none of them guarantee it.
      - didibus 8y ago
        Gotta define success first. Seems we're ascribing it to mean power and wealth. Which is different from invention and technological innovation, or athletic achievements, or happiness, or longevity, or health, or lived experiences, or total percentage of time spent laughing, or comfort, or number of children, number of romances, sexual prowess, etc. I feel our culture currently holds a strange definition of success, that of wealth mostly. So in that sense, ya, IQ might not matter that much.

maceurt 8y ago

That is the quote I most remember from the movie, the founder. I did not know Calvin Coolidge was originally the guy who said it.

dijit 8y ago

With the danger of sounding conceited: I have lived this. Me and my sister are polar opposites in everything, I’m lazy. She’s motivated. I tended to be above average when tested. She tended to be below average when tested. She wanted nothing more than being outside in nature and I wanted nothing more than being inside and messing with my computer. Hell. Even down to the fact she has a boys name and I have a girls name (I’m a guy) and that I was skinny and she was not. She is now a barrister, something that I could never have become. I was close to being a shelf-stocker at the UK equivalent of wal-mart but ironically they wouldn’t have me. If not for the fact that this industry is a huge bubble I would be on my arse. And why? Because I’m lazy and smart. And she is persistent and dumb. I have tremendous respect for my sister, but it’s a fact that her success is down to her persistence. She never gives up. Even when people dump all over her for being slow or sounding thick. She’s awesome. We could all learn something from her.

charlesdm 8y ago
The question is, is she a good barrister? Not trying to play down her achievements, but in the end, anyone can graduate in law if they put in enough time and effort. As an example: I once had a tax dispute where I was represented by a lawyer who I felt was not very sharp. We were losing / going to lose the case. Realising the mistake I had made retaining him, I swapped to a senior lawyer of a named tax law firm. He was extremely sharp and experienced, and would think 10 steps ahead. He was also a bit lazy though (which is fine, so am I at times). But he's hands down the best professional I have ever worked with -- the only person I would ever trust without having to double check his work. I prefer the smart lawyer, as opposed to any person with a law degree. The fact that the first guy in my example persevered and got a law degree says absolutely nothing about his ability.

qubax 8y ago

Like all quotes, on first glance it appears insightful and impressive, but a closer second look reveals it to be nonsense. > Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Luck and circumstance can. > Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. The world is also full of persistent failures as well. > Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The Axis powers in ww2 were as persistent and determined as the allies. You could argue they were even more persistent and determined. They failed. Has there been a more persistent and determined presidential candidate than Hillary Clinton? She failed twice. If persistence was all it took, Hillary would have been president. People love to pat themselves on the back for their successes. If coolidge was born into a black family in the 1800s rather than into an elite new england family, I wonder how much persistence and determination would have mattered. Persistence is an important characteristic in life, but there are far more to success than persistence.

brightball 8y ago
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Preparation comes from persistence.
- beefield 8y ago
  > “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” "Your parents have funny names for their genitals" I think that luck is the only one you can't replace.
- jarfil 8y ago
  Not true. Luck is just random, preparation allows to spot more opportunities, but no amount of preparation will make up for a lack of them.

tyingq 8y ago

That does ring somewhat true, but I think there's more than just determination and intelligence that could affect success. Things like charisma, gravitas, luck / right place and time, attractiveness, height, inherited wealth or relationships, etc. Shortfalls in any of these can be made up by excesses in others.

watwut 8y ago

If unrewarded genius proves that genius is not the thing, then unrewarded persistent person should prove persistence is not the thing either. And there are plenty of unrewarded persistent people. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent, but also, there are plenty of persistent people around who are unsuccessful.

CPLX 8y ago
> Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent That’s arguable. I would hazard a guess that unsuccessful men without talent may be a larger group.
- watwut 8y ago
  I was quoting parent at that point.