-Anon.
“Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality. It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions. And the actions which speak louder than the words. It is making the time when there is none. Coming through time after time after time, year after year after year. Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things. It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism."
[this is commonly attributed to Abraham Lincoln or Shearson Lehman (American Express) or anon.
-Anon.
There are only two creatures of value on the face of the earth: those with the commitment, and those who require the commitment of others.
-John Adams
We must live for the few who know and appreciate us, who judge and absolve us, and for whom we have the same affection and indulgence. The rest I look upon as a mere crowd...from whom there is nothing to be expected but fleeting emotions.
-Sarah Bernhardt, "The Memoirs of Sarah Bernhardt," ch. 9, 1977 edition.
If your energy is as boundless as your ambition, total commitment may be a way of life you should seriously consider.
-Joyce Brothers
Never give in! Never give in! Never, never, never. Never -- in anything great or small, large or petty -- never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.
-Sir Winston Churchill
The men who succeed best in public life are those who take the risk of standing by their own convictions.
-James Garfield
For we have thought the longer thoughts
And gone the shorter way.
And we have danced to devil's tunes
Shivering home to pray;
I take you now and for always,
For always is always now.
-Philip Larkin, "Is it for now or for always?"
Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.
-Vince Lombardi
But when I said that nothing had been done I erred in one important matter. We had definitely committed ourselves and were halfway out of our ruts. We had put down our passage money--booked a sailing to Bombay. This may sound too simple, but is great in consequence. Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!
-William H. Murray, The Scottish Himalaya Expedition, 1951.