Excuses have no merit when you are committed.

You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you're not passionate enough from the start, you'll never stick it out.

I am a true laborer: I earn that I eat, get that I wear, owe no man hate, envy no man’s happiness, glad of other men’s good, content with my harm.

Irrevocable commitments that offer loopholes, not bail-out provisions, and no parachute clauses will extract incredible productivity and performance.