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The great majority of men are bundles of beginnings. There is not one who has not felt the sacred fire of virtue many a time kindling up within him. He resolved to read, he resolved to give, he solved to abstain, to speak well, to think in a train, to serve God, to imitate Christ. Something he did toward realizing his purpose — but it was most unlucky time — some very unseasonable circumstances occurred and the good purpose was postponed. Who is there here who does not remember his defeats?
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1829-12-07)
(Source)
I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.
J. B. Priestley (1894-1984) English author, dramatist [John Boyne Priestley] Delight (1949)
Start now. Start where you are. Start with fear. Start with pain. Start with doubt. Start with hands shaking. Start with voice trembling but start. Start and don’t stop. Start where you are, with what you have. Just … start.
Popularized in the west by John F. Kennedy, "A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step," announcing the atmospheric nuclear test ban treaty (26 Jul 1963).
The distance is nothing; it is only the first step that costs.
Marie Anne de Vichy-Chamrond, Marquise du Deffand (1697-1780) French hostess and patron of the arts [Madame du Deffand].
Letter to Horace Walpole (6 Jun 1767)
People attribute this to Aristotle largely because Jowett used a contemporary proverb in lieu of what Aristotle wrote: "As the proverb says -- 'Well begun is half done.'" The following alternative translations capture his original meaning more closely:
"The beginning is said to be half of the business." [tr. Ellis (1912)]
"The beginning as the proverb says is half of the whole." [tr. Rackham (1932)]
"The beginning is said to be 'half of the whole.'" [tr. Lord (1984)]
"The starting-point is said to be half the whole." [tr. Reeve (2007)]