Striving

Famous quotes containing the word striving:

    “Fatalism, whose solving word in all crises of behavior is “All striving is vain,” will never reign supreme, for the impulse to take life strivingly is indestructible in the race. Moral creeds which speak to that impulse will be widely successful in spite of inconsistency, vagueness, and shadowy determination of expectancy. Man needs a rule for his will, and will invent one if one be not given him.”
    —William James (1842–1910)

    “Views of women, on one side, as inwardly directed toward home and family and notions of men, on the other, as outwardly striving toward fame and fortune have resounded throughout literature and in the texts of history, biology, and psychology until they seem uncontestable. Such dichotomous views defy the complexities of individuals and stifle the potential for people to reveal different dimensions of themselves in various settings.”
    —Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)

    ““There is Lowell, who’s striving Parnassus to climb
    With a whole bale of isms tied together with rhyme,
    He might get on alone, spite of brambles and boulders,
    But he can’t with that bundle he has on his shoulders,
    The top of the hill he will ne’er come nigh reaching
    Till he learns the distinction ‘twixt singing and preaching;”
    —James Russell Lowell (1819–1891)