“It is far easier to start something than it is to finish it.”
Amelia Earhart
20 Hrs. 40 Min. (Primary source)
Earhart’s 1928 memoir chronicles her pioneering transatlantic flight, capturing both the mechanical drama of early flight and her own awakening to aerial possibilities. Written with characteristic modesty, it reveals the seeds of her later solo ambitions.
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“In soloing—as in other activities—it is far easier to start something than it is to finish it. Almost every beginner hops off with a whoop of joy, though he is likely to end his flight with something akin to D. T.’s [delirium tremens—the severe withdrawal symptoms associated with alcoholism, characterized by violent trembling, hallucinations, and intense anxiety].”
Amelia Earhart
“Anticipation, I suppose, sometimes exceeds realization.”
— Amelia Earhart Primary source“The time to worry is three months before a flight. Decide then whether or not the goal is worth the risks involved. If it is, stop worrying. To worry is to add another hazard. It retards reactions, makes one unfit. Hamlet would have been a bad aviator. He worried too much.”
— Amelia Earhart Primary source“Preparation, I have often said, is rightly two-thirds of any venture.”
— Amelia Earhart Primary source“In my life I had come to realize that when things were going very well indeed it was just the time to anticipate trouble. And, conversely, I learned from pleasant experience that at the most despairing crisis, when all looked sour beyond words, some delightful break was apt to lurk just around the corner.”
— Amelia Earhart Primary sourceMore quotes by Amelia Earhart →
“’'Tis easier to suppress the first desire, than to satisfy all that follow it.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Strategic change doesn’t just start at the top. It starts with your calendar.”
— Andrew S. Grove Primary source“You’re much more likely to do well if you start out to do something feasible instead of something that isn’t feasible. Isn’t that perfectly obvious?”
— Charlie Munger Primary source“I don’t know what’s the matter with people: they don’t learn by understanding; they learn by some other way—by rote, or something. Their knowledge is so fragile!”
— Richard Feynman Primary source