"It's a very slow process - two steps forward, one step back - but I'm inching in the right direction"
About this Quote
The phrasing is doing quiet psychological work. "Very slow process" lowers the stakes and drains shame from delay. "Inching" is almost comically small, a word that shrinks the distance between intention and achievement until it feels survivable. Even the dash matters: it’s conversational, like someone catching themselves mid-thought and offering the more honest version. That pause signals humility, not branding.
Coming from a director, the subtext has extra bite. Film is a medium of edits, reshoots, and incremental improvements hidden inside a finished product. Reiner’s best-known work often balances sincerity with a wink; this quote lands in that same register. It’s optimism without self-congratulation, a way of staying motivated while admitting the inevitable relapse into old habits, old politics, old patterns.
The intent isn’t to inspire with spectacle. It’s to recalibrate expectations: keep moving, accept regression, and treat "the right direction" as the only metric that matters.
Quote Details
| Topic | Perseverance |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Reiner, Rob. (2026, January 15). It's a very slow process - two steps forward, one step back - but I'm inching in the right direction. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-a-very-slow-process-two-steps-forward-one-94795/
Chicago Style
Reiner, Rob. "It's a very slow process - two steps forward, one step back - but I'm inching in the right direction." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-a-very-slow-process-two-steps-forward-one-94795/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"It's a very slow process - two steps forward, one step back - but I'm inching in the right direction." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-a-very-slow-process-two-steps-forward-one-94795/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.





