Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. — Samuel Johnson · Smartyfair

Few things are impossible to diligence and skill.

Samuel Johnson1709–1784 · writer · 1700s EnglandSamuel Johnson was an English writer and critic best known for single-handedly writing one of the first great dictionaries of the English language, a project that took him about nine years.2 quotes

Source foundPerseverance1700s

In plain words

Keep working and keep learning, and very few doors stay shut.

Look up a word

Where these words come from

How sure this is: 95% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
What turned up: The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia (1759), Ch. XII; Wikiquote sourced section.
Work: The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, ch. XII
Occasion: 1759
Sources checked: en.wikiquote.orgChecked using claude-sonnet-5, 20 August 2026Sourced Rasselas (1759) section
gutenberg.orgChecked using claude-fable-5, 21 August 2026The History of Rasselas (1759), ch. XII — exact line in primary text on Project Gutenberg

Nothing made from these words yet — Storyfaire is where they get made.

More on perseverance

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.

Confucius Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

Lao Tzu Slow and steady wins the race.

Aesop Patience is the key to relief.Arabic proverb Drops of water hollow out a stone.

Ovid Only after Winter comes do we know that the pine and the cypress are the last to fade.

More history

In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.

Sun Tzu The wound is the place where the light enters you.

Rumi You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.

Marcus Aurelius Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.

Marcus Aurelius An unexamined life is not worth living.

Socrates Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder.