“There is no road too long to the man who advances deliberately and without undue haste; there are no honours too distant to the man who prepares himself for them with patience.”

— Jean de La Bruyère, Les Caractères (1688)

About Jean de La Bruyère

1645 – 1696

French moralist, author of "Les Caractères" (1688).

“We come too late to say anything which has not been said already.”

“Making a book is a craft, like making a clock; it needs more than native wit to be an author.”

“There are certain things in which mediocrity is intolerable: poetry, music, painting, public eloquence.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

“Patience is a necessary ingredient of genius.”

“He that can have patience can have what he will.”

“Patience and diligence, like faith, remove mountains.”

“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.”