There Is Really No Insurmountable Barrier, Save Your Own Inherent Weakness of Purpose

Elbert Hubbard? Kin Hubbard? Ralph Waldo Emerson? Robert Burns Wilson? Henry Austin? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: Success is often achieved via persistence. Here is a popular elaboration of this notion:

There is no defeat except from within. There is really no insurmountable barrier, save your own inherent weakness of purpose.

This remark has been attributed to essayist and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, publisher and aphorist Elbert Hubbard, painter and poet Robert Burns Wilson, cartoonist and humorist Kin Hubbard and others. Would you please explore this topic?

Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared in the New York journal “The Critic” in 1887 within a five paragraph piece titled “And So—I Gave Up Trying!” by Robert Burns Wilson. Here is an excerpt with boldface added by QI:^[1]1887 October 8, The Critic: A Weekly Review of Literature and the Arts, “And So—I Gave Up Trying!” by Robert Burns Wilson, Start Page 173, Quote Page 173, The Critic Company, New York. (Google … Continue reading

There is no defeat except from within. There is really no insurmountable barrier, save your own inherent weakness of purpose. There is no power either in heaven or earth that can successfully oppose the onward course of the perfectly determined soul.

Success as the world names it is but a word, which with the next breath may signify defeat. But success as the soul knows it, is to have within the sustaining sense of right and an unselfish purpose. There is no failure except in no longer trying.

Ralph Waldo Emerson died in 1882 before the text above appeared. The first attribution to Emerson known to QI occurred in 1905. This citation was not substantive. Other linkages to prominent individuals were also quite weak.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

A few weeks after Wilson’s article appeared in “The Critic” it was reprinted with acknowledgment in the journal “Public Opinion” of Washington D.C. The text was slightly altered. The phrase “save your own inherent weakness” was changed to “save our own inherent weakness”.^[2]1887 October 22, Public Opinion, Section: Miscellaneous, “And So—I Gave Up Trying!” by Robert Burns Wilson in the Critic, Start Page 36, Quote Page 37, Column 1, The Public Opinion Company, … Continue reading

In 1895 “Mining and Scientific Press” of San Francisco, California published a 136 word piece titled “Keeping Everlastingly At It Brings Success” without attribution. The excerpt below reveals some of the overlapping content which has been rearranged:^[3] 1895 June 1, Mining and Scientific Press, Volume 70, Number 22, Keeping Everlastingly At It Brings Success, Quote Page 344, Column 3, San Francisco, California. (Google Books Full View) link

A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success. There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent weakness of purpose.

In 1898 the trade journal “Dental Brief” printed a 20 line poem titled “Perseverance Conquers All” by Henry Austin. The final five lines were placed between quotation marks. The text overlapped the words written by Wilson:^[4]1898 November, Dental Brief, Volume 3, Number 4, Section: For Our Patients, Perseverance Conquers All by Henry Austin, Quote Page 245, L. D. Caulk, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Google Books Full … Continue reading

“There is no failure, save in giving up,—
No real fall as long as one still tries,—
For seeming setbacks make the strong man wise.
There’s no defeat, in truth, save from within;
Unless you’re beaten there, you’re bound to win.”

In 1899 the periodical “Unity” of Chicago, Illinois printed a filler item consisting of two sentences ascribed to Wilson:^[5] 1899 February 16, Unity, Volume 42, Number 25, (Filler item), Quote Page 493, Alfred C. Clark & Company, Chicago, Illinois. (Google Books Full View) link

There is no defeat except from within. There is no failure except in no longer trying.—Robert Burns Wilson.

In 1905 “The Educator-Journal” of Indianapolis, Indiana printed the following on its front page while implausibly crediting “Emerson”, i.e., Ralph Waldo Emerson:^[6] 1905 April, The Educator-Journal, Volume 5, Number 8, (Epigraph on front page), The Educator-Journal Company, Indianapolis, Indiana. (Google Books Full View) link

There is no defeat except from within. There is really no insurmountable barrier save your own inherent weakness of purpose. —Emerson

In 1909 “The Book of Good Cheer” compiled by Edwin Osgood Grover contained the following entry with Emerson’s full name:^[7]1909 Copyright, The Book of Good Cheer: “A Little Bundle of Cheery Thoughts”, Edited by Edwin Osgood Grover, Quote Page 53, P. F. Volland & Company, Chicago, Illinois. (Google Books Full … Continue reading

There is no defeat except from within. There is really no insurmountable barrier save your own inherent weakness of purpose. —Ralph Waldo Emerson.

In 1911 a collection titled “An American Bible” included a chapter dedicated to Elbert Hubbard. A instance of the paragraph printed in “Mining and Scientific Press” in 1895 was reprinted without acknowledgement or ascription. The reader would naturally assume that the words were penned by Hubbard. These were the final two sentences:^[8] 1911 Copyright, An American Bible, Edited by Alice Hubbard, Chapter: Elbert Hubbard, Quote Page 304, Published by The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York. (HathiTrust Full View) link

There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent weakness of purpose.

Paeans to persistence have inspired mordant retorts. In 1917 Canadian humorist Stephen Leacock published a comical essay titled “Simple Stories of Success or How to Succeed in Life” containing the following advice:^[9] 1917 Copyright, Frenzied Fiction by Stephen Leacock, Simple Stories of Success or How to Succeed in Life, Start Page 243, Quote Page 245, John Lane Company, New York. (Google Books full view) link

There is an old motto that runs, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” This is nonsense. It ought to read—”If at first you don’t succeed, quit, quit at once.” If you can’t do a thing, more or less, the first time you try, you will never do it. Try something else while there is yet time.

In 1958 political commentator Sydney J. Harris also criticized tenacity:^[10] 1958 January 12, Akron Beacon Journal, Materialism Is Superstition by Sydney J. Harris (syndicated), Quote Page 2D, Column 5, Akron, Ohio. (Newspapers_com)

Perseverance is the most overrated of traits, if it is unaccompanied by talent; beating your head against a wall is more likely to produce a concussion in the head than a hole in the wall.

In 1969 an entry in “The International Dictionary of Thoughts” used Elbert Hubbard’s middle name:^[11]1969, The International Dictionary of Thoughts: An Encyclopedia of Quotations from Every Age for Every Occasion, Compiled by John P. Bradley, Leo F. Daniels, Thomas C. Jones, Topic: Perseverance, … Continue reading

There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent weakness of purpose.
Elbert Green Hubbard

In 1974 “Instant Quotation Dictionary” compiled by Donald O. Bolander credited a different Hubbard:^[12]1974, Instant Quotation Dictionary, Compiled by Donald O. Bolander, Dolores D. Varner, Gary B. Wright, and Stephanie H. Greene, Topic: Perseverance, Quote Page 200, Career Institute, Mundelein, … Continue reading

There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent weakness of purpose.
Kin Hubbard

In conclusion, Robert Burns Wilson deserves credit for the essay he published in “The Critic” in 1887. Some of Wilson’s sentences were used in an anonymous piece published in 1895. In 1905 Ralph Waldo Emerson incorrectly received credit for two sentences from Wilson’s essay. During subsequent years Elbert Hubbard and Kin Hubbard have also incorrectly received credit.

Image Notes: Illustration depicting arrows of multiple colors from geralt at Pixabay. Image has been cropped and resized.

(Great thanks to Tara Meyers whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Meyers asked about the poem attributed to Henry Austin. This is a complex topic because the contents of the poem evolved over time. This is the first of three articles. This article is focused on the words of Robert Burns Wilson.)