Nutty ideas persist longer than they used to because ideas can dwell in the safe space of like-minded groups on the internet.
I worked with several writers at the University of Michigan: Nicholas Delbanco, Peter Ho Davies, Eileen Pollack, Laura Kasischke, and Thomas Lynch, who told me the same thing over and over again: Persist. Read, write, and improve: tell your stories.
It doesn't matter if people are playing jazz or writing poetry. If they want to be successful, they need to learn how to persist and persevere and keep on working until the work is done... I bet there isn't a single highly successful person who has not depended on grit. Nobody is talented enough to not have to work hard, and that's what grit allows you to do.
Anyone who makes an effort at whatever they hope to accomplish can, and will, seriously improve their chances of succeeding.
I once showed Pat Bradley my swing and said, 'What do I do next?' Pat replied, 'Wait till the pain dies down.'
If you don't feel like praying, pray until you do!
We need to direct our efforts toward one goal, and that is to survive.
If you want to write, do two things - read lots of books and also, in your own writing, practise. Just write and write and then write again. persist. And never be put off or discouraged. You can do it!
The key of success is for you to set one big, challenging goal and then to pay any price, overcome any obstacle and persist through any difficulty until you finally achieve it
The scene changes but the aspirations of men of good will persist.
