Text of the meditation
All things at last yield to the silent, irresistible, all-conquering energy of purpose. The weak person, who grieves because they are misunderstood, will not achieve greatly; the vain person, who steps aside from their resolve to please others and win their approval, will not achieve highly; the double-minded person, who thinks to compromise their purpose, will fail.
The person of fixed purpose, who does not yield a fraction of their resolve whether misunderstandings and foul accusations, or flatteries and fair promises, rain upon them, is the person of excellence and achievement; of success, greatness and power. Hindrances stimulate a person of purpose; difficulties nerve them to renewed exertion; mistakes, losses and pains do not subdue them; and failures are steps in the ladder of success, for they are ever conscious of the certainty of final achievement.
The intensity of purpose increases with the growing magnitude of the obstacles encountered.
James Allen (1864–1912), Book of Meditations for Every Day in the Year (1913) – public-domain text, gently modernised.
The original 1913 text is in the public domain.