Success by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

There is no such thing as an overnight success. Successful people have labored anonymously until they hit their breakthrough. So do not be discouraged. Just keep moving forward—one step at a time.

We all know how it feels to dream of success, then watch our desires crumble to dust before our very eyes. But the successes of others failed, too; they just got back up and tried again…and were fortunate enough to succeed on the second try or the third or even later on in life. This isn’t luck: The successful people I’ve met have labored anonymously in secret until they hit their breakthrough.

Keep hustling, keep working, keep making progress. Don’t allow yourself to give up or feel discouraged when things don’t go the way you’d hoped. Success is achieved by going forward and by digging deeper into what you know.

Such is the message of this poem, Success by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Success

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

We have not wings, we cannot soar;

 But we have feet to scale and climb

 By slow degrees, by more and more,

 The cloudy summits of our time.

The mighty pyramids of stone

 That wedge-like cleave the desert airs,

 When nearer seen and better known,

 Are but gigantic flights of stairs.

The distant mountains, that uprear

 Their solid bastions of the skies,

 Are crossed by pathways that appear

 As we to higher levels rise.

The heights by great men reached and kept

 Were not attained by sudden flight,

 But they, while their companions slept,

 Were toiling upward in the night.

In Summary

Many people think that there is an overnight success, but the truth is that most people spend years working hard at it before they get anywhere. Overnight success takes time to build, but it’s worth it.

It’s hard to persist when it seems like everything we do is a failure. But I’ve learned that all of our failures aren’t failures at all: Every time you go and try something different, even if you fail, you’re making progress towards your goals and towards the success that you deserve. So don’t be discouraged; keep moving forward—one step at a time.

And remember these lines from the poem:

The heights by great men reached and kept

 Were not attained by sudden flight,

 But they, while their companions slept,

 Were toiling upward in the night.