“Never give up: try to attack it from another angle, the correct angle—where success is in proportion not to the extension of the individual but to the constancy in the effort to make the world around God less harsh and more human. If the pressure of events can induce you to make the mental sacrifice of every personal ambition in favor of a higher duty, I am convinced that you can reach a degree of emancipation and clearness of vision in relation to the external world, far greater than you imagine. One must contrive to preserve a real appetite for life and action whilst at the same time renouncing any desire for personal happiness. Therein lies the secret—and not illusion—of living in the “Divine Milieu.”
— Attributed to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Teilhard de Chardin 
Great minds working in parallel? I posted an article encouraging perseverance, as it pertains to battling Evil, about an hour before I read yours about perseverance. 🙂
Tony, thank you for stopping by. Looks like we were thinking along the same lines!
Peace,
W. Ockham
Not the only blogging coincidence here either. Simply Orthodox just within an hour from this post put up a quote from St. Isaac the Syrian with a similar them: http://simplyorthodox.tumblr.com/post/62051222684.
Theresa, thank you for sharing! By the way, I love your Gravitar image.
Teilhard must have written this from his own experience. He personified perseverance in the face of adversity and found it necessary to proceed with no hope of personal happiness. How difficult it must have been for him to realize that his work was not appreciated by his Church and not even by the Jesuits and yet he persevered and for that we are very fortunate.
Yes, that is one of the things I admire most about Teilhard de Chardin is his perseverance, patience and trust in God. Teilhard’s Patience Prayer is on my refrigerator and a constant reminder to myself.
Reblogged this on The Noah Project.