Important Things in the World Have Been Accomplished by People Who Have Kept On Trying When There Seemed To Be No Hope At All

Dale Carnegie? Lee de Forest? Dorothy Carnegie? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: Dale Carnegie was a popular author of self-improvement books. He once argued against premature discouragement by asserting that most remarkable achievements had been attained by people who continued to try even when no hope seemed possible. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Quote Investigator: In 1942 Dale Carnegie published a newspaper column about U.S. inventor Lee de Forest who faced numerous technological, financial, and legal obstacles in his career. He eventually obtained success with the creation of the Audion vacuum tube. Lee de Forest’s tale illustrated Carnegie’s point that one should not be easily deterred. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:^[1] 1942 January 29, The Marshall News Messenger, Being Discouraged Never Pays by Dale Carnegie, Quote Page 6, Column 5, Marshall, Texas. (Newspapers_com)

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. That plan has worked for thousands of others; it may work for you, too.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

In 1959 the quotation appeared posthumously in “Dale Carnegie’s Scrapbook: A Treasury of the Wisdom of the Ages” edited by Dale’s wife Dorothy Carnegie:^[2]1959, Dale Carnegie’s Scrapbook: A Treasury of the Wisdom of the Ages, Edited by Dorothy Carnegie with writings by Dale Carnegie, Quote Page 199, Published by Dale Carnegie & Associates, … Continue reading

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

In 2003 the quotation appeared in “The Big Book of Business Quotations” with a citation pointing to a 1948 book:^[3] 2003, The Big Book of Business Quotations, Topic: Determination, Quote Page 119, Column 2, Basic Books: A Member of the Perseus Books Group, New York. (Verified with scans)

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.
Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) U.S. consultant and author.
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (1948)

In conclusion, Dale Carnegie deserves credit for this statement which he wrote in a 1942 newspaper column.

Image Notes: Illustration of a person jumping across a chasm from sasint at Pixabay. Image has been resized and cropped.

(Great thanks to Kent Coleman whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.)