Quote of the Day: Sarah Ban Breathnach on Success

We’re taught that struggle is a detour, evidence you took a wrong turn. But what if struggle is the route itself, the only honest road to getting anywhere worth going? Sarah Ban Breathnach slips that truth into a wink: “Always remember that striving and struggle precede success, even in the dictionary.”

The cleverness of the dictionary isn’t just a punchline; it’s a rebuttal to the modern fantasy of frictionless achievement. We scroll past other people’s highlight reels and assume our own slow, gritty middle is a personal flaw. Breathnach reminds us that the middle is the method. Striving isn’t a sign you’re behind, it’s proof you’re engaged with reality, where outcomes are earned, not downloaded.

There’s also a moral clarity in her ordering: before you can hold the trophy, you have to hold the tension. “Struggle” names the part we try to hide, rejection, uncertainty, the week where nothing clicks. Yet those moments do more than test resolve; they shape judgment. They teach what shortcuts cost, what effort reveals, and why resilience is less a trait than a practice repeated until it sticks.

Sarah Ban Breathnach, best known for Simple Abundance, has spent a career translating everyday pressure into usable wisdom, inviting readers to build a life that changes from the inside out, one small choice at a time.

January has a way of demanding proof: new plans, cold mornings, the quiet audit of what we meant to do versus what we actually did. Apply Breathnach’s line today by redefining progress, measure the work you’re willing to return to, not the applause you haven’t received yet. That shift turns success from a destination into a discipline.