No great intellectual thing was ever done by great effort.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Significant intellectual achievements do not rely on sheer force of will or strained exertion.
- In plain terms
- Big ideas come naturally, not from struggling hard.
- What can you take from it?
- Focus on flow and insight rather than brute force.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When does effort hinder progress?
- How do you recognize flow?
Another view
Some complex tasks do require sustained hard work.
More from Theodore Roosevelt
Nine-tenths of wisdom consists in being wise in time.
Permalink to quote #97 No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause.
Permalink to quote #99 Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.
Permalink to quote #96
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