Quote Atlassourced quotes & context
Source identified
I attribute my success to this:—I never gave or took an excuse.
Read & copy the quotation
“I attribute my success to this:—I never gave or took an excuse.”

Florence Nightingale

Source
Letter to Miss H. Bonham Carter, 1861
Date
1861
Meaning

Meaning of “I attribute my success to this:—I never gave…”

Nightingale describes her working habit as acting on responsibility rather than accepting excuses when practical failures required correction.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Letter to Miss H. Bonham Carter [1861], transcribed in Sir Edward Cook, The Life of Florence Nightingale, Vol. I, Project Gutenberg #40057. The sentence follows Nightingale’s account of correcting a hotel cistern failure and represents her own retrospective claim about her working method.

Primary / edition source ↗

Customize your imageTen designs · Square or portrait · Preview and share
Themes

Ideas connected with this quotation

CalmDiscipline Quotes About Habits, Practice & ConsistencyEffortHard WorkMotivational Quotes for Action, Effort & PersistencePatiencePeaceResponsibilitySelf-Control Quotes About Restraint & JudgmentShortSuccessThought-Provoking Quotes That Invite ReflectionMotivation For WorkProfessionalism
Related quotations

Continue through nearby ideas

Source identified
The master-word is Work
Image design Midnight
Read & copy

“The master-word is Work”

William Osler · The Master-Word in Medicine · 1903
Meaning & context

Osler makes sustained work the organizing principle of his address to medical students, emphasizing disciplined practice over brilliance without application.

Source details

The Master-Word in Medicine, address delivered October 1, 1903 at the opening of the new buildings of the University of Toronto Medical Faculty; reviewed against the represented 1903 John Murphy pamphlet, Internet Archive identifier b28060805. ‘The master-word is Work’ is Osler’s organizing refrain and is followed by his appeal to write the word on the heart and forehead. This remains historical professional rhetoric rather than an endorsement of unsafe working hours or workaholism.

Source identified
Diligence is the mother of good luck.
Image design Linen
Read & copy

“Diligence is the mother of good luck.”

Benjamin Franklin · Poor Richard’s Almanack · 1736
Meaning & context

Persistent effort improves the odds of useful results because steady work creates more opportunities for progress than waiting for favorable circumstances.

Source details

Poor Richard’s Almanack; the maxim appears in Franklin’s collected Poor Richard material.

Source identified
he must work and be industrious to live.
Image design Midnight
Read & copy

“he must work and be industrious to live.”

Benjamin Franklin · Information to Those Who Would Remove to America · 1784
Meaning & context

Franklin tells prospective emigrants without inherited wealth that livelihood would depend on work and industry, directly countering expectations of effortless advancement after arrival.

Source details

Information to Those Who Would Remove to America, before March 1784; Founders Online. The lowercase opening is retained because this is a clause from Franklin’s longer sentence about strangers, law, liberty and industry.

Source identified
Drive thy business, or it will drive thee.
Image design Linen
Read & copy

“Drive thy business, or it will drive thee.”

Benjamin Franklin · Poor Richard’s Almanack · 1740s
Meaning & context

Work becomes harder to control when it is left unmanaged; the maxim favors deliberate direction, priorities, and active stewardship over reactive pressure.

Source details

Poor Richard’s Almanack; a compact maxim about managing work before accumulated demands begin managing you.