But the greatest undertakings should not be overly pondered, lest contemplation of difficulties too clearly foreseen appall you.
[Los grandes empeños aun no se han de pensar, basta ofrecerse, porque la dificultad, advertida, no ocasione el reparo.]
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 204 (1647) [tr. Fischer (1937)]
(Source)
(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:
As to great enterprizes, we must not stand reasoning, it is enough that we embrace them when they present, lest the consideration of their difficulty make us abandon the attempt.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]
Great undertakings are not to be brooded over, lest their difficulty when seen causes despair.
[tr. Jacobs (1892)]
In moments of great danger, don't even think, simply act. Don't dwell on the difficulties.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]
Quotations about:
enterprise
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.
Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) South African revolutionary, politician, statesman
Long Walk to Freedom (1995)
Dreadful will be the day when the world becomes contented, when one great universal satisfaction spreads itself over the world. Sad will be the day for every man when he becomes absolutely contented with the life that he is living, with the thoughts that he is thinking, with the deeds that he is doing, when there is not forever beating at the doors of his soul some great desire to do something larger which he knows that he was meant and made to do because he is a child of God.
Phillips Brooks (1835-1893) American clergyman, hymnist
Daily Thoughts from Phillips Brooks (1893)
Many strokes fell tall Oaks.
John Clarke (d. 1658) British educator
Proverbs: English and Latine (1639)
Smile on this
My bold endeavour.[Audacibus annue coeptis]
Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
Georgics [Georgica], Book 1, l. 40ff (1.40) (29 BC) [tr. Rhoades (1881)]
(Source)
Calling on (now declared divine) Augustus Caesar to bless his poetry. This line, and a similar one in Virgil's Aeneid (9.625), inspired the phrase "Annuit cœptis" ("He [God] has favored our undertakings") on the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:
Aid my bold design.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]
To my bold Endeavours add thy Force.
[tr. Dryden (1709), l. 60]
Aid my bold design.
[tr. Nevile (1767), l. 50]
Favour my adventurous enterprise.
[tr. Davidson (1854)]
Bid my gallant enterprise succeed.
[tr. Blackmore (1871)]
Favor my bold emprise.
[tr. Wilkins (1873)]
Our bold endeavor bless.
[tr. King (1882)]
Favor my adventurous enterprise.
[tr. Bryce (1897)]
Favour my bold endeavour.
[tr. Mackail (1899)]
Smile on this
My bold endeavour.
[tr. Greenough (1900)]
O smile upon this my bold emprise!
[tr. Way (1912)]
Give assent to my bold emprise.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1916)]
Be gracious to this my bold design.
[tr. Day-Lewis (1940)]
Condone this enterprise
Of bold experiment.
[tr. Bovie (1956)]
I hope for an easy passage in this bold venture.
[tr. Slavitt (1971)]
Assent to bold undertakings.
[tr. Miles (1980)]
Smile on my enterprise.
[tr. Wilkinson (1982)]
Agree to my bold beginning.
[tr. Kline (2001)]
Assent to this work boldly begun.
[tr. Lembke (2004)]
Bless the boldness of this undertaking.
[tr. Fallon (2006)]
Approve my bold endeavour.
[tr. Johnson (2009)]
Grant me the right to enter upon this bold
Adventure of mine.
[tr. Ferry (2015)]
Look with favor upon a bold beginning.
[Bartlett's]
BRUTUS: There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves
Or lose our ventures.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Julius Caesar, Act 4, sc. 3, l. 249ff (4.3.249-255) (1599)
(Source)
My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success. She said that achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others, and that’s nice too, but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and forget about the success.
Helen Hayes (1900-1993) American actress
Reader’s Digest (1958)
