On Commitment
"This may sound too simple, but is great in consequence. Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way."
W. H. Murray was a Scottish mountain climber--quite avid-- born in 1913. He was a prisoner of war for three years in WWII. He wrote a Scottish mountaineering book in prison on toilet paper which was destroyed by the Gestapo, so he started over again, even though he was near death (of starvation). That book was published in 1947. He went on to live until 1996 (!), wrote a dozen or more climbing books, and half a dozen fiction books. He married a poet who finished and published his autobiography which he had entitled, Evidence of Things Not Seen. I don't think he was thought to be "religious" but you can see that he really was quite so. The quote is from The Scottish Himalayan Expedition, although it was at first widely attributed to Goethe.
"This may sound too simple, but is great in consequence. Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way."
W. H. Murray was a Scottish mountain climber--quite avid-- born in 1913. He was a prisoner of war for three years in WWII. He wrote a Scottish mountaineering book in prison on toilet paper which was destroyed by the Gestapo, so he started over again, even though he was near death (of starvation). That book was published in 1947. He went on to live until 1996 (!), wrote a dozen or more climbing books, and half a dozen fiction books. He married a poet who finished and published his autobiography which he had entitled, Evidence of Things Not Seen. I don't think he was thought to be "religious" but you can see that he really was quite so. The quote is from The Scottish Himalayan Expedition, although it was at first widely attributed to Goethe.
No comments:
Post a Comment