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About this quote

What does it mean?
Great things develop slowly, like fruit that must first blossom before it can be harvested.
In plain terms
Big achievements need time to grow.
What can you take from it?
Be patient with progress.

Where it applies

  • learning a skill
  • building a business

Putting it to work

  • set incremental goals
  • track milestones

Questions to consider

  • How can you tell when a project is ready for the next stage?
  • What signs indicate stagnation?

Another view

Patience alone won't guarantee success without effort.

More from Epictetus

  1. When you close your doors, and make darkness within, remember never to say that you are alone, for you are not alone; nay, God is within, and your genius is wi…

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  2. Practice yourself, for heaven's sake, in little things; and thence proceed to greater.

    Permalink to quote #4
  3. To the rational being only the irrational is unendurable, but the rational is endurable.

    Permalink to quote #1

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