Proverb- China
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Zhi yao yau hen xin, tie chu mo cheng zhen
Only have perseverance; iron pillar can be worn down to a needle.
My mom told me this to prevent me from giving up. I used to give up a lot. My mom told me a story to tell me the lesson. That there was this really famous / renown poet; an ancient Chinese poet called Li Bai. And when Li bai was young, he failed his exam as a scholar many times, and he decided that he was going to give up because he thought that he had no talent for it. Then, while he was walking back home, he saw an old woman sitting by the road wearing down an iron pillar, and Li Bai asked the old woman what she was doing, and she said that she is trying to make the iron pillar into a small sewing needle. And Li bai thought it was impossible and told her to give up. After a month, he saw her again and she showed him the needle and she told him that because she had perseverance, thats why she could do it. And so, Li Bai took her words and he started to study again. The next time he took the scholar exam, he passed it. Vicky
This proverb has the same moral as a famous fable; The Hare and the Tortoise. Both stories convey the message of perseverance. It teaches the life of lesson of always persevering which will lead to success. I have heard many other stories and proverbs of always preserving.