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“But I kept at it”
The short phrase summarizes Washington’s response to repeated failure while learning demanding household work under Mrs. Ruffner’s supervision.
Source note: Working With the Hands, Chapter I; Project Gutenberg #64504. This is an autobiographical fragment whose surrounding paragraph describes repeated attempts before improvement.
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“His motto was 'Persevere!'”
Smiles condenses Stephenson’s response to repeated engineering and institutional obstacles into a single governing principle of continued effort.
Source note: The Life of George Stephenson and of his Son Robert Stephenson, Chapter XI, “Chat Moss—Construction of the Railway”; represented 1868 revised edition, Project Gutenberg #46229. The motto appears in Smiles’s surrounding narration immediately after the quoted Chat Moss recollection.
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“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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“Slow but steady wins the race.”
Steady progress can defeat greater natural speed when the faster competitor becomes careless, distracted, or overconfident.
Source note: Moral printed after “The Hare and the Tortoise” in George Fyler Townsend’s translation of Aesop’s fables.
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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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“Let us not be weary in well doing.”
Courage can look like continuing useful work after enthusiasm fades, especially when results are delayed rather than immediately visible.
Source note: Galatians 6:9 in the King James Version; opening clause of the verse about perseverance.