The good life comes only to the one who makes a constant effort to attain it.
In order to attain the good life, you must not think that any good deed is beneath you. Small good deeds require no less effort than the greatest and boldest ones.
The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
— Matthew 11:12
A person who knows what virtue is and does not do what it demands of him does the same thing as a traveler who, despite knowing that the path he is on leads to food and shelter, stops and waits for the shelter to come to him.
To avoid spilling a full vessel, you must hold it upright.
To keep a blade sharp, you must constantly sharpen it.
And the same applies to your soul if you seek the true good.
— Laozi
If there is any great and good thing in store for you, it will not come at the first or the second call, nor in the shape of fashion, ease, and city drawing-rooms.
— Emerson
Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.
— Matthew 7:7–8
Pythagoras said that we must try to live a life that is most in accord with virtue. It may be the most difficult, but, as we get used to it, it becomes the most joyous.
God has given the animals everything they need. But he has not given this to the human being, who must obtain everything he needs on his own. A human being is not born with the highest wisdom, he must labor to attain it, and the more effort he makes, the greater his reward. He cannot get closer to perfect wisdom without making a great effort.
— Tablets of the Bab
If you want the good, fulfill God’s law. The fulfillment of God’s law is only possible by effort. Not only is your effort rewarded with a joyous life, but the effort itself gives you the greatest good of life.
