ETHOS (Part 2): Grit | Jean Gage

Check out Part 2 of our ETHOS series with guest speaker Jean Gage's message "The Spirit of Endurance: Cultivating Grit from Within." In it, she explores what it really means to endure — not just to survive difficult seasons, but to grow stronger because of them.

 

Drawing wisdom from ancient mystics, modern psychologists, and spiritual teachers, Jean invites us to discover how grit isn’t just about willpower — it’s about trust, transformation, hope, and meaning. Whether you’re facing personal challenges, navigating uncertainty, or simply longing to live with more resilience, this message offers inspiration and practical insight for cultivating inner strength over the long haul.

 

Quotes:

1. Angela Duckworth – “Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, and day out – not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years – and working really hard to make that future a reality.”

2. Saint Teresa of Avila – “Trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All things are passing. God never changes. Patience obtains all things.”

3. The Buddha – “Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but final victory comes to the one who endures.”

4. Rumi – “Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead let life live through you.”

5. Friedrich Nietzsche – “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”

6. Rabindranath Tagore – “Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.”

7. Angela Duckworth –

   "What is hope?  One kind of hope is the expectation that tomorrow will be better than today.  It’s the kind of hope that has us yearning for sunnier weather, or a smoother path ahead.  It comes without the burden of responsibility.  The onus is on the universe to make things better.  Grit depends on a different kind of hope.  It rests on the expectation that our own efforts can improve our future.  I have a feeling tomorrow will be better is different from I resolve to make tomorrow better.  The hope that gritty people have has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with getting up again.”

8. Winston Churchill – “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

9. Margaret Thatcher – “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”

10. Thomas Edison – “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”

11. Julian of Norwich – “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”

12. Helen Keller – “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”

13. John Wayne – “Courage is being scared to death….and saddling up anyway.”