Credit: I found this quote on my friend’s “Life After Divorce” Blog. The image is public domain, and is the last plane Amelia ever flew in.

To say that something or someone is “the bane of my existence” means that the person or thing is a constant irritant or source of misery. As a cliche, “bane of my existence” has lost its edge to a large degree over the years, and today is most often applied to something that may profoundly annoy us but is certainly bearable. Telemarketers, for instance, have become the “bane” of many folks’ existence, but few of us are sufficiently distressed to turn off our telephones, and while “spam” is a daily “bane,” not many of us would dream of giving up the Internet. “Bane of my existence” is now almost always used in a semi-jocular, “what are you gonna do?” sense.

But “bane” was once a very serious word. The Old English “bana” meant literally “slayer” in the sense we now use “killer” or “murderer.” Early on, the English “bane” was also used in the more general sense of “cause of death,” and by the 14th century “bane” was used in the specialized sense of “poison,” a sense which lives on in the names of various poisonous plants such as “henbane” and “wolfbane.”

From this very literal “something that kills you” usage, “bane” by the 16th century had broadened into its modern meaning of “something that makes life unpleasant, a curse.”

“I have always believed that what brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart.” ~Barack Obama

“A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because he was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means–the only complete realist.” ~C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity

Continuous effort is the key to unlocking our potential.
- Winston Churchill

Fall seven times, stand up eight.
- Japanese Proverb

It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.
- Albert Einstein

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.
- Walter Elliott

Don’t be discouraged. It’s often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock.
- Author Unknown

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.
- Buddhist Saying

Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down.
- Charles F. Kettering

Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second.
- William James

Difficult things take a long time, impossible things a little longer.
- Author Unknown

Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.
- Earl Nightingale

Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.
- Louis Pasteur

If you are going through hell, keep going.
- Winston Churchill

Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.
- William Feather

Paralyze resistance with persistence.
- Woody Hayes

All right Mister, let me tell you what winning means… you’re willing to go longer, work harder, give more than anyone else.
- Vincent Lombardi

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
- Thomas Edison

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.
- Newt Gingrich

How long should you try? Until.
- Jim Rohn

Our greatest glory lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
- Author Unknown

You can’t let go and still win.
- Author Unknown

It is perseverance which distinguishes the strong from the weak.
- Author Unknown

“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.”
-Mark Twain

-Abraham Lincoln

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