It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. — Confucius · Smartyfair

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

Confucius551–479 BC · philosopher · Ancient ChinaConfucius was a teacher and philosopher who lived in ancient China more than 2,500 years ago.8 quotes

Source not found yetPerseveranceAncient

In plain words

Going slowly is fine. Stopping is the only thing that ends a journey.

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Where these words come from

How sure this is: 40% sureLots of sources credit Confucius with this, and they agree with each other. The book or the speech it first came from hasn't turned up yet.
What turned up: widely attributed, no primary source found; absent from the Analects and from Wikiquote's Confucius page entirely
Sources checked: en.wikiquote.orgChecked using claude-sonnet-5, 20 August 2026
ctext.orgChecked using claude-fable-5, 22 August 2026Analects IX.19 (Legge, read this pass): '...and I stop, the stopping is my own work... the advancing with it is my own going forward.' The genuine passage the popular line distills; the English wording is a modern paraphrase, verbatim in no translation. PARAPHRASE class.

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More on perseverance

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 Few things are impossible to diligence and skill.

Samuel Johnson Constant practice devoted to one subject often prevails over both ability and skill.