“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Winston Churchill
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Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small.
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About this quote
Meaning
The core insight here is about timing and scale. Difficult problems become much harder to solve once they have grown large, and great outcomes rarely begin at full size. The advice is to act early, when a challenge is still manageable, and to take on ambitious goals while they are still small enough to handle. Waiting for problems to become urgent, or for opportunities to become obvious, usually means waiting too long.
Context
This line comes from the Tao Te Ching, one of the most influential philosophical texts in the Chinese tradition, associated with the figure of Lao Tzu. The Tao Te Ching is a short collection of poetic and often paradoxical observations about nature, leadership, and the best way to move through the world. A recurring theme in the text is that the wise person acts in harmony with natural processes, intervening early and gently rather than forcing outcomes through struggle. This quote reflects that principle in practical terms.
About the author
Lao Tzu is the traditional author associated with the Tao Te Ching, though historical details about his life are uncertain and debated among scholars. The text itself dates to ancient China and is one of the founding works of Taoist philosophy. Taoism emphasizes simplicity, naturalness, and a kind of effortless action that works with rather than against the flow of circumstances. Whether Lao Tzu was a single historical figure or a name attached to a tradition of thought, the ideas in the text he is credited with have influenced philosophy, religion, art, and governance across many centuries and cultures.
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Share this quote
“Do we really want to travel in hermetically sealed popemobiles through the rural provinces of France, Mexico and the Far East, eating only at Hard Rock Cafes and McDonalds? Or do we want to eat without fear, tearing into the local stew, the humble taqueria's mystery meat, the sincerely offered gift of a lightly grilled fish head?”
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