"The distance between ambition and reality is bridged solely by consistent effort. Remember this in moments of decisive trial."

Motivation

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Insight & Reflection

This reflection on motivation by Kathleen Alcalá resonates across generations. It highlights a fundamental truth about human nature: our continuous search for meaning in motivation is what ultimately defines our character and our path forward.

About Kathleen Alcalá

Kathleen Alcalá is the author of a short-story collection, three novels set in the American Southwest and nineteenth-century Mexico, and a collection of essays. She teaches creative writing at workshops and programs in Washington state and elsewhere, including Seattle University, the University of New Mexico and Richard Hugo House.

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Editorial Note: This quote is curated and fact-checked by the ShortQuote Editorial Team. Verified Literature Specialist.

More by Kathleen Alcalá

"Wisdom principle 28 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 65."

— Kathleen Alcalá
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"Wisdom principle 48 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 77."

— Kathleen Alcalá
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"He who conquers his inner doubts has already won half the war. This remains the cornerstone of personal mastery — an essential principle for the reflective life."

— Kathleen Alcalá
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"Patience is not passive waiting; it is active endurance with a calm countenance. For where clarity resides, peace inevitably follows."

— Kathleen Alcalá
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More about Motivation

"I have spent a lifetime watching kids make mistakes because they were not trained or well led or properly motivated to do well. I never faulted the kids rather, I saw opportunity to train, to motivate, to improve leadership - not to punish the individual."

— Eric Shinseki
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"It is the false shame of fools to try to conceal wounds that have not healed."

— Horace
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"I've got mad energy for days. That's what people can't get their minds around. They say, 'Oh, he's going to crash.' They try to apply all these common terms to a guy who is not common. I don't fit into their little box."

— Charlie Sheen
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"What this country needs what every country needs occasionally is a good hard bloody war to revive the vice of patriotism on which its existence as a nation depends."

— Ambrose Bierce
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