Ignatian Perseverance

I once knew a Jesuit priest in my days in Rome who remarked once on the strange vacillation today about making decisions in life. In short, half our productive life is over before we settle on a goal that requires that productivity.

The same sentiment can be found in St. Ignatius' autobiography:

There flashed upon his mind the idea of the difficulty that attended the kind of life he had begun, and he felt as if he heard some one whispering to him, "How can you keep up for seventy years of your life these practices which you have begun?" Knowing that this thought was a temptation of the evil one, he expelled it by this answer: "Can you, wretched one, promise me one hour of life?" In this manner he overcame the temptation, and his soul was restored to peace.

 Again, I apologize that the Kindle does not allow for page references.