“The materials of action are variable, but the use we make of them should be constant.”

—  Epictetus

How Nobleness of Mind may be consistent with Prudence, Chap. v.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)

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Epictetus 175
philosopher from Ancient Greece 50–138

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“No one should be discouraged, Theaetetus, who can make constant progress, even though it be slow.”

Plato book Sophist

Original Greek, from Sophist 261b http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0172%3Atext%3DSoph.%3Asection%3D261b: θαρρεῖν, ὦ Θεαίτητε, χρὴ τὸν καὶ σμικρόν τι δυνάμενον εἰς τὸ πρόσθεν ἀεὶ προϊέναι.
Also quoted in variant forms such as: Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow
Sophist

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