Source identified
“Diligence is the mother of good luck.”
Persistent effort improves the odds of useful results because steady work creates more opportunities for progress than waiting for favorable circumstances.
Source note: Poor Richard’s Almanack; the maxim appears in Franklin’s collected Poor Richard material.
Source identified
“The master-word is Work”
Osler makes sustained work the organizing principle of his address to medical students, emphasizing disciplined practice over brilliance without application.
Source note: The Master-Word in Medicine, address at the opening of the University of Toronto medical faculty buildings, October 1, 1903. This collection treats the line as historical professional rhetoric and not as an endorsement of excessive working hours.
Source identified
“Slow and steady wins the race.”
The moral values sustained progress over bursts of speed that are not matched by attention or follow-through.
Source note: Traditional English moral associated with the fable; wording is later than the ancient Greek tradition.
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“Little strokes fell great oaks.”
Small repeated efforts can accomplish work that seems too large for a single burst of effort, making consistency itself a practical form of strength.
Source note: Poor Richard’s Almanack; a compact maxim about cumulative effort.
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“Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.”
Voice: Fictional character · Imlac
Large achievements often depend more on continued effort than on a single burst of power.
Source note: The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia.
Source identified
“Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.”
Resolution becomes useful only when followed by execution; the maxim links deliberate standards with the habit of carrying them through.
Source note: Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin; this is Franklin’s fourth listed virtue, Resolution.