P.T. Barnum on Perseverance (1880)

“Work at it, if necessary, early and late, in season and out of season, not leaving a stone unturned, and never deferring for a single hour that which can be done just as well now. The old proverb is full of truth and meaning: ‘Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.’ Many a man acquires a fortune by doing his business thoroughly, while his neighbor remains poor for life, because he only half does it. Ambition, energy, industry, perseverance, are indispensable requisites for success. Fortune always favors the brave, and never helps a man who does not help himself. It won’t do to spend your time like
Mr. Micawber, in waiting for something to ‘turn up’. To such men one of two things usually turns up: the poorhouse or the jail; for idleness breeds bad habits,
and clothes a man in rags.”