Great things take time (quotes)

We live in a society fixated on immediate results

People who are used to seeing society only “from above” tend to be impatient. They want to see immediate results. Anything that does not produce immediate results seems foolish. They don’t have a lot of sympathy for acts which can only be evaluated years after they take place, which are motivated by moral factors, and which therefore run the risk of never accomplishing anything. Václav Havel
Commitment, Life is a process, Balance short-termism with long term thinking, Slow down

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However, the truth is that great things take time…

Expect anything worthwhile to take a long time. Debbie Millman
Don’t expect to change the world in a really short amount of time. Dan Lerner
Everything takes time. Bees have to move very fast to stay still. David Foster Wallace
To do anything of magnitude takes at least five years, more likely seven or eight. Rightfully or wrongfully, that’s how I think. Steve Jobs
All great achievements require time. Maya Angelou
Long is the road from conception to completion. Moliere
No great thing is created suddenly. Epictetus
Good things take time, as they should. We shouldn’t expect good things to happen overnight. Actually, getting something too easily or too soon can cheapen the outcome. John Wooden
Everything valuable takes time, there are no overnight successes. Jack Canfield
Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success. Biz Stone
So remember: great achievements take time, there is no overnight success. Leo Tolstoy
Nothing truly great is instant.
Whatever is formed for long duration arrives slowly to its maturity. Samuel Johnson
It takes time to build a corporate work of art. It takes time to build a life. And it takes time to develop and grow. So give yourself, your enterprise, and your family the time they deserve and the time they require. Jim Rohn
In this diverse exercise, let some ten years pass: and then what is created in the workshop may also be brought before the public eye. Friedrich Nietzsche
It takes time to live. Like any work of art, life needs to be thought about. Albert Camus
Everything requires time. It is the only truly universal condition. Peter Drucker
Time

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…often far longer than we expect

Most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year – and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade! Tony Robbins
Everything takes longer than you expect, even when you expect it to take longer than you expect. Ashleigh Brilliant

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True change and personal transformation takes time

Change isn’t easy, it takes time. Caroline Kennedy
Change, like healing, takes time. Veronica Roth
It takes time to be who you really want to be. It doesn’t happen overnight. Chanel Iman
Cultivating inner discipline is something that takes time; expecting rapid results is simply a sign of impatience. Dalai Lama
I think it takes time to find your natural style and learn not to be swayed by trends that might not flatter you. Martine McCutcheon
It takes time to understand yourself, to go inside yourself and to question yourself and really take yourself to task. That’s self-expression. John Leguizamo
Change is difficult and it takes time. It is hard for people to change their own behavior, much less that of others. Change programs normally address attitudes, ideas, and rewards. But the behaviors of people in organizations are also strongly shaped by habits, routines, and social norms. Real change requires new power relationships, new work routines and new habits, not just intent. Richard P. Rumelt
Emotional healing is almost always a process. It takes time. Floyd McClung
Learning to trust yourself and what you know takes time and work. You cannot expect to eradicate a lifetime of misguided information overnight. You must make a continuous, conscious effort to get on good terms with you. Iyanla Vanzant
Breaking old habits and forming new ones always takes time, but it is worth it in the end. Joyce Meyer

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Relationships take time to develop and nurture

Friendship takes time. Agnes Repplier
Love takes time. It’s a process not a goal. Love is something that needs to be nurtured. Jon Gordon
Friendship takes time and energy if it’s going to work. You can luck into something great, but it doesn’t last if you don’t give it proper appreciation. Friendship can be so comfortable, but nurture it-don’t take it for granted. Betty White
To be a friend takes time, and time is what nobody has. Therefore, real friends are rare. Suzanne Massie
It takes time to be a good father. It takes effort – trying, failing, and trying again. Tim Hansel
Love and hurry are fundamentally incompatible. Love always takes time, and time is the one thing hurried people don’t have. John Ortberg
Friendship

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Nature takes its time, and yet look at what is accomplished

There is a frightful interval between the seed and the timber. Samuel Johnson
Dedication involves making the space to let young ideas take hold; every tree was once a seed and every company was once an idea. Zephyr Bloch-Jorgensen
No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen. Epictetus
Great things take time; that is why seeds persevere through rocks and dirt to bloom. Matshona Dhliwayo
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. Lao Tzu
The seasons do not push one another; neither do clouds race the wind across the sky. All things happen in their own good time. Dan Millman
Nature never gives everything at once. Samuel Johnson
It takes time for an acorn to turn into an oak, but the oak is already implied in the acorn. Alan Watts
True beauty, the kind that doesn’t fade or wash off, takes time. It takes incredible endurance. It is the slow drip that creates the stalactite, the shaking of the Earth that creates mountains, the constant pounding of the waves that breaks up the rocks and smooths the rough edges. And from the violence, the furor, the raging of the winds, the roaring of the waters, something better emerges, something that would have otherwise never existed. Amy Harmon
Nature

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God too is never in a rush

The great soul that sits on the throne of the universe is not, never was, and never will be, in a hurry. Bill Vaughan
The best things are never arrived at in haste. God is in no hurry; His plans are never rushed. Michael R. Phillips
God

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Realise there are no short cuts to anywhere worth going

There are no shortcuts to get anyplace worthwhile. Joe de Sena
There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. Beverly Sills
Champions know there are no shortcuts to the top. They climb the mountain one step at a time. They have no use for helicopters! Judi Adier
If you take shortcuts, you get cut short. Gary Busey
If you do the work you get rewarded. There are no shortcuts in life. Michael Jordan
In this age, which believes that there is a short cut to everything, the greatest lesson to be learned is that the most difficult way is, in the long run, the easiest. Henry Miller
There is no short cut to achievement. Life requires thorough preparation – veneer isn’t worth anything. George Washington Carver
Only temporary success is achieved by taking short cuts. Roger Staubach
There are no short cuts to the top. Ed Viesturs
In the long run, a short cut seldom is. Malcolm Forbes
Success is not an accident. It is sheer hard work. There is no short-cuts. You have to take the stairs and you have to start from the bottom. Rita Zahara
There are no short cuts. If you want to do something special, there’s a serious price to pay. There’s no way around it. Tom Thibodeau
Work hard. There is no short cut. Alfred P. Sloan

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True success is almost never an overnight affair

Overnight success has never happened overnight. Charles London
It takes twenty years to make an overnight success. Eddie Cantor
Expect anything worthwhile to take a long time.” This is borrowed from the wise and wonderful Debbie Millman, for it’s hard to better capture something so fundamental yet so impatiently overlooked in our culture of immediacy. The myth of the overnight success is just that — a myth — as well as a reminder that our present definition of success needs serious retuning. As I’ve reflected elsewhere, the flower doesn’t go from bud to blossom in one spritely burst and yet, as a culture, we’re disinterested in the tedium of the blossoming. But that’s where all the real magic unfolds in the making of one’s character and destiny. Maria Popova
Overnight success stories take a long time. Steve Jobs
The idea that success can happen overnight is crippling the financial future of generations. You have to work for it. Robert Kiyosaki
There are no quick wins in business – it takes years to become an overnight success. Richard Branson
I tell you all this because it’s worth recognizing that there is no such thing as an overnight success. You will do well to cultivate the resources in yourself that bring you happiness outside of success or failure. The truth is, most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive. At that time, we turn around and say, yes, this is obviously where I was going all along. It’s a good idea to try to enjoy the scenery on the detours, because you’ll probably take a few. Bill Watterson
There are few overnight successes and many up-all-night successes. Kevin Ashton
Everybody wants the quick fix, but it doesn’t happen overnight. You have to be willing to put it out there. I call it ‘the secret to being an overnight success,’ which means there really isn’t a such thing as an overnight success. The secret is you work really hard for 10 years, and then you become an overnight success. Jon Gordon
An overnight success is ten years in the making. Tom Clancy
Overnight success just doesn’t happen. You’ve got to put your time in. You’re up and down – all of a sudden, it just clicks Anthony Calvillo
People talk about overnight successes, and ultimately, there’s a certain amount of, you want to call it luck or fortune or good fortune, or whatever, but when your moment arrives, you have to have been at a point where you paid your dues, or done your 10,000 hours or have the requisite talent or whatever. Damon Lindelof
There’s no such thing as an overnight success. Tory Burch
Actually, I’m an overnight success, but it took twenty years. Monty Hall
Give me a couple of years, and I’ll make that actress an overnight success. Samuel Goldwyn
Some say I’m an overnight success. Well, that was a very long night that lasted about 10 years. Lisa Morton
I was an overnight success all right, but 30 years is a long, long night. Ray Kroc
It takes three years to be an overnight success, sometimes more. Seth Godin
I worked half my life to be an overnight success, and still it took me by surprise. Jessica Savitch
Dig into almost every overnight success story and you’ll find about a decade’s worth of hard work and perseverance. Austin Kleon
Overnight success happens only in fairy tales, trashy novels, and bad movies. Ernie J Zelinski
Success

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Therefore, give yourself over less to haste…

So surely as you find yourself in the mental attitude of haste, just so surely may you know that you are out of the mental attitude of greatness. Hurry and fear will instantly cut your connect with the universal mind. Wallace D. Wattles
One of the most pernicious effects of haste is obscurity. Samuel Johnson
The best things are never arrived at in haste. Michael Phillips
Do not be desirous of having things done quickly. Do not look at small advantages. Desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done thoroughly. Looking at small advantages prevents great affairs from being accomplished. Confucius
People forget how fast you did a job – but they remember how well you did it. Howard Newton
Haste

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…realising that the path to greatness is a marathon, not a sprint

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another. Walter Elliott
There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream.
But the moment you turn a corner you see another straight stretch ahead and there comes some further challenge to your ambition. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. Nelson Mandela
Life’s a marathon, not a sprint. Phillip C. McGraw
It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. Confucius
Life is a race, Greatness

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Consciously slow down a bit

Smile, breathe and go slowly. Thich Nhat Hanh
If you complain about the world moving too fast, slow down. Mike Dolan
I need neither future nor past, but to learn to take today not too fast. Jeb Dickerson
Nothing can be more useful to you than a determination not to be hurried. Henry David Thoreau
I don’t have an answer for the hurry sickness afflicting our society and our souls. But I do trust that the how-to-stop-it is within you, and you can change your pace if you want to. Sue Patton Thoele
Take time for deliberation. Haste spoils everything. Publius Papanius Statius
Modest wisdom plucks me from over-credulous haste. William Shakespeare
Don’t try to rush to the next scene in the movie of ‘me’. Be here, in this scene, Now, the only scene there is. Jeff Foster
Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Henry David Thoreau
Slow down

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Learn to love the process

Everything takes time. You have to love the journey and the process. Benson Henderson
Life is a process

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Take on the big worth jobs worth doing…

Take on big jobs worth doing — jobs like the spread of love, peace, and justice. That means refusing to be seduced by our cultural obsession with being effective as measured by short-term results. We all want our work to make a difference — but if we take on the big jobs and our only measure of success is next quarter’s bottom line, we’ll end up disappointed, dropping out, and in despair. Parker Palmer

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…and don’t fear the time it will take to accomplish them

Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use. Earl Nightingale

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Respect the process and remain faithful to it

It’s only when caterpillarness is done that one becomes a butterfly. That again is part of this paradox. You cannot rip away caterpillarness. The whole trip occurs in an unfolding process of which we have no control. Ram Dass
Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph; a beginning, a struggle and a victory. Ghandi
People who think achieving success is a linear A-to-Z process, a straight shot to the top, simply aren’t in touch with reality. Donald Trump
Our heroes take on impossible jobs and stay with them for the long haul because they live by a standard that trumps effectiveness. The name of that standard, I think, is faithfulness — faithfulness to your gifts, faithfulness to your perception of the needs of the world, and faithfulness to offering your gifts to whatever needs are within your reach. The tighter we cling to the norm of effectiveness the smaller the tasks we’ll take on, because they are the only ones that get short-term results… Care about being effective, of course, but care even more about being faithful … to your calling, and to the true needs of those entrusted to your care. You won’t get the big jobs done in your lifetime, but if at the end of the day you can say, “I was faithful,” I think you’ll be okay. Parker Palmer
Life is a process, Process management

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Aim for steady progress over immediate results

Do not be impatient with your seemingly slow progress. Do not try to run faster than you presently can. If you are studying, reflecting and trying, you are making progress whether you are aware of it or not. A traveller walking the road in the darkness of night is still going forward. Someday, some way, everything will break open, like the natural unfolding of a rosebud. Vernon Howard
You can’t do everything at once. But if you keep adding a little progress every day, over time you will have built a whole new set of habits and self-disciplines. Remember, anything valuable takes time. There are no overnight successes. Jack Canfield
Progress

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Realise the mighty power of small, consistent steps

When you have a great and difficult task, something perhaps almost impossible, if you only work a little at a time, every day a little, suddenly the work will finish itself. Isak Dinesen
When climbing a mountain, define each step in the right direction as success. We learn the alphabet before we write words; it works the same in sport and life. Many small successes add up. Dan Millman
Small steps are good—they add up to big ones. Small steps are especially helpful to overachievers, who need to learn that life is less about getting somewhere, and more about being somewhere. Alan Cohen
Little changes and little choices add up to be revolutionary changes in your life. Sarah Ban Breathnach
Small steps become gant strides. Tony Robbins
The ability to progress and achieve extraordinary results even in the midst of chaos is to take just one step at a time in the right direction. Tony Robbins
The most momentous leaps of growth commonly have as their springboard fairly modest first steps. Nathaniel Branden
Small daily improvements always lead to exceptional results over time. Robin Sharma
From small beginnings come great things. Proverb
Little by little, one travels far. J R R Tolkien
Small steps get you to big places. Marc and Angel Chernoff
Little by little one walks far. Peruvian Proverb
It is the Baby Steps you take, the everyday things you do, that eventually lead to the manifestation of your outcome. David Emerald
Whoever wants to reach a distant goal must take small steps. Helmut Schmidt
The power of small steps

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Slow and steady really does win the race

We live in a world that adores speed. But the nature of business and life is more organic. A gorgeous wine takes time to mature. A precious garden takes time to bloom. A breathtaking mountain needed time to form. And – great businesses and world-class lives are not created in a day. It’s more about evolution than revolution. Those small daily improvements that, over time, lead to stunning results. It’s the small steps that matter most. So today, I invite you to be patient. Focus more on consistent and steady improvements in the way you work and in the way you live. Slow and steady does win the race. Robin Sharma
Despite everyone knowing the fable of the tortoise and the hare, no one has taken it to heart. Slow leads to progress, success, and breakthroughs. Aly Juma
Life is a race, Greatness

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Realise all great accomplishments need strong foundations to grow from

When you plant a bamboo tree, you will notice that in the first few years, the bamboo trees will not grow one bit. Even if you water it daily and make sure that it has enough sunlight and the soil is fertile and suitable. However, on the fifth year, something amazing will happen. The bamboo trees will grow 80 feet tall within a short 6 weeks. The moral of the story is that during the first few years, the bamboo trees are growing, not upward, but downward. They sprout their root deep into the ground because they want to grow sky-high. The same principle can apply to your life and whatever you want to accomplish. You have to learn to grow and build a strong foundation like the bamboo did. Learn to walk before you run. And success takes time, my friend. Shawn Lim

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Realise that patience really is a virtue

Impatience asks for the impossible, wants to reach the goal without the means of getting there. The length of the journey has to be borne with, for every moment is necessary. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
For small erections may be finished by their first architects; grand ones, true ones, ever leave the copestone to posterity. God keep me from ever completing anything. This whole book is but a draught—nay, but the draught of a draught. Oh, Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience! Herman Melville
Genius is eternal patience. Michelangelo
Patience is the homely background on which most of the brilliant achievements are woven in beautiful harmony. Allyn King Foster
Patience and the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown. Chinese Proverb
How many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more patience would have achieved success. Elbert Hubbard
Patience is not a virtue. It is an achievement. Vera Nazarian
Patience, Virtue

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Realise the power of perseverance

Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go. William Feather
Perseverance

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Not just accomplishments but mastery too takes time to acquire

Everything is hard before it is easy. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it would not seem so wonderful at all. Michelangelo
The emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert—in anything. Daniel Levitin
There is no royal road to learning; no short cut to the acquirement of any art. Anthony Trollope
It takes time to create excellence. If it could be done quickly, more people would do it. John Wooden
Simplicity takes time, patience and practice. Complexity offers too many excuses for failure. Dean Cavanagh
Genius is immediate, but talent takes time. Janet Flanner
It takes time to learn to draw. It takes years, not a few weeks. Gilberto Hernandez Guerrero
Mastery

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Not just accomplishments but true spiritual progress takes time

Learning how to operate a soul figures to take time. Timothy Leary
Neither a space station nor an enlightened mind can be realized in a day. Dalai Lama
Just like the butterfly, I too will awaken in my own time. Deborah Chaskin
Flowers do not force their way with great strife. Flowers open to perfection slowly in the sun. Don’t be in a hurry about spiritual matters. Go step by step, and be very sure. White Eagle
Spirituality

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Not just accomplishments but ideas too take time to formulate

In his book, Where Good Ideas Come From, Steven Johnson explores the slow hunch. To summarize, the slow hunch is the premise that ideas take awhile to formulate and do not do so in moments of aha, but rather slowly brewing and forming over time. Aly Juma
Ideas

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On a lighter note

They say the best things take time. That’s why I’m always late.
Even the woodpecker owes his success to the fact that he uses his head and keeps pecking away until he finished the job he started. Coleman Cox
One press account said I was an overnight success. I thought that was the longest night I’ve ever spent. Sandra Cisneros

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