---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Is it not true that the clever rogue is…"
description: "\"Is it not true that the clever rogue is like the runner who runs well for the first half of the course, but flags before reaching the goal: he is quick..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cba/plato-103_analogy_is-it-not-true-that-the-clever-rogue-is_1366284.jpg"
---

#  Is it not true that the clever rogue is like the runner…

![“Is it not true that the clever rogue is like the runner who runs well for the first half of the course, but flags before reaching the goal: he is quick off the mark, but ends in disgrace and slinks away crestfallen and uncrowned. The crown is the prize of the really good runner who perseveres to…” quote by Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cba/plato-103_analogy_is-it-not-true-that-the-clever-rogue-is_1366284.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cba/plato-103_analogy_is-it-not-true-that-the-clever-rogue-is_1366284.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cba/plato-103_analogy_is-it-not-true-that-the-clever-rogue-is_1366284.jpg)

> “Is it not true that the clever rogue is like the runner who runs well for the first half of the course, but flags before reaching the goal: he is quick off the mark, but ends in disgrace and slinks away crestfallen and uncrowned. The crown is the prize of the really good runner who perseveres to the end.”

[Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A quick start without perseverance leads to failure; true success requires sustained effort to the end.

**In simple terms:** Fast starts need endurance to win.

Key Takeaway

Cultivate perseverance.

Themes

perseverance humility achievement goal‑setting

Mood

thoughtful serious

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- sports competitions
- academic studies
- career development

Key Concepts

virtue ethics psychology

Questions to Reflect On

- What habits sustain long‑term goals?
- How do you handle early setbacks?

A Different Perspective

Initial talent alone is insufficient without continued work.

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[Analogy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/analogy/) [Clever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever/) [Clever Rogue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever-rogue-4691094/) [Courses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courses/) [Crowns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crowns/) [Disgrace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disgrace/) [Encouraging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/encouraging/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Flags](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flags/) [Goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goal/) [Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goals/) [Good Runner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-runner-1216821/) [Half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Like Runner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-runner-3102505/) [Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mark/) [Motivational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivational/) [Perseverance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perseverance/) [Persevere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persevere/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Prize](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prize/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Reaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reaching/) [Rogue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rogue/) [Rogues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rogues/) [Runner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/runner/) [Runners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/runners/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/)

## Related quotes

> [It's like a runner or a swimmer training all the time. I sing every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burton-cummings/it-s-like-a-runner-or-a-swimmer-training-all-the-time-i-sing-every-day/)

[Burton Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/burton-cummings/)

> [I'm just like a runner, try to be the winner and the finish line is only in your heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiran/i-m-just-like-a-runner-try-to-be-the-winner-and-the-finish-line-is/)

[Kiran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiran/)

> [No one likes the fellow who is all rogue, but we'll forgive him almost anything if there is warmth of human sympathy underneath his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/no-one-likes-the-fellow-who-is-all-rogue-but-we-ll-forgive-him-almost/)

[W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/)

> [For every inch that is not fool, is rogue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/for-every-inch-that-is-not-fool-is-rogue/)

[John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/)

> [A rich man without charity is a rogue; and perhaps it would be no difficult matter to prove that he is also a fool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/a-rich-man-without-charity-is-a-rogue-and-perhaps-it-would-be-no/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [His calumny is not only the greatest benefit a rogue can confer on us, but the only service he will perform for nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/his-calumny-is-not-only-the-greatest-benefit-a-rogue-can-confer-on-us/)

[Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/)

> [There is no den in the wide world to hide a rogue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-no-den-in-the-wide-world-to-hide-a-rogue/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Put a rogue in the limelight and he will act like an honest man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/put-a-rogue-in-the-limelight-and-he-will-act-like-an-honest-man/)

[Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/)

> [Time is the only test of honest men, one day is space enough to know a rogue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/time-is-the-only-test-of-honest-men-one-day-is-space-enough-to-know-a/)

[Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/)

> [A process which makes one rogue cleverer than another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/a-process-which-makes-one-rogue-cleverer-than-another/)

[Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/)

> [You want stealth? Be a rogue in 'World of Warcraft'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-romero/you-want-stealth-be-a-rogue-in-world-of-warcraft/)

[John Romero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-romero/)

> [There is no den in the wide world to hide a rogue. Commit a crime, and the earth is made of glass. Commit a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-no-den-in-the-wide-world-to-hide-a-rogue-commit-a-crime-and/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [My own favorite is something called Rogue Male.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-o-toole/my-own-favorite-is-something-called-rogue-male/)

[Peter O'Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-o-toole/)

> [Onscreen, Foaly rubbed his eyelids with his index fingers. "Yeah, yeah. Here we go. Captain Short goes rogue once more. Hands up who's surprised.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eoin-colfer/onscreen-foaly-rubbed-his-eyelids-with-his-index-fingers-yeah-yeah/)

[Eoin Colfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eoin-colfer/)

> [Who calls a lawyer rogue, may find, too lateUpon one of these depends his whole estate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-crabbe/who-calls-a-lawyer-rogue-may-find-too-lateupon-one-of-these-depends/)

[George Crabbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-crabbe/)

## More by Plato

> [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/)

[Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/)

> [You may be sure, dear Crito, that inaccurate language is not only in itself a mistake: it implants evil in men's souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/you-may-be-sure-dear-crito-that-inaccurate-language-is-not-only-in/)

[Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/)

> [“If men learn this, it will implant forgetfulness in their souls; they will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/if-men-learn-this-it-will-implant-forgetfulness-in-their-souls-they/)

[Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/)

> [Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/knowledge-which-is-acquired-under-compulsion-obtains-no-hold-on-the/)

[Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/)

> [I do not think it is permitted that a better man be harmed by a worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/i-do-not-think-it-is-permitted-that-a-better-man-be-harmed-by-a-worse/)

[Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/)

> [Any city, however small, is in fact divided into two, one the city of the poor, the other of the rich; these are at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/any-city-however-small-is-in-fact-divided-into-two-one-the-city-of/)

[Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/)

> [When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody may believe them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/when-men-speak-ill-of-thee-live-so-as-nobody-may-believe-them/)

[Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/)

> [“The love of man to woman is a thing common and of course, and at first partakes more of instinct and passion than of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/the-love-of-man-to-woman-is-a-thing-common-and-of-course-and-at-first/)

[Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/)

> [Strange times are these in which we live when old and young are taught in falsehood's school, and the one man that dares to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/strange-times-are-these-in-which-we-live-when-old-and-young-are/)

[Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/)

> [“He was a wise man who invented God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/he-was-a-wise-man-who-invented-god/)

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> [For let me tell you, that the more the pleasures of the body fade away, the greater to me is the pleasure and charm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/for-let-me-tell-you-that-the-more-the-pleasures-of-the-body-fade-away/)

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> [“What shall we say about those spectators, then, who can see a plurality of beautiful things, but not beauty itself, and who are incapable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/what-shall-we-say-about-those-spectators-then-who-can-see-a-plurality/)

[Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/)

> [Geometry existed before creation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/geometry-existed-before-creation/)

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> [When men speak ill of thee, live so that nobody will believe them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/when-men-speak-ill-of-thee-live-so-that-nobody-will-believe-them/)

[Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/)

> [We must, if we are to be consistent, and if we re to have a real pedigree herd, mate the best of our men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/we-must-if-we-are-to-be-consistent-and-if-we-re-to-have-a-real/)

[Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/)

[Explore all 1,278 Plato quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/)

## More Analogy quotes

> [“One use of the argument from analogy is found in response to the question of what or who created the universe. Some have argued…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-klein/one-use-of-the-argument-from-analogy-is-found-in-response-to-the/)

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[Bob Thurber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-thurber/)

> [Historical analogy is the last refuge of people who can't grasp the current situation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/historical-analogy-is-the-last-refuge-of-people-who-can-t-grasp-the/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [One good analogy is worth three hours discussion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-good-analogy-is-worth-three-hours-discussion/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The nude does not simply represent the body, but relates it, by analogy, to all structures that have become part of our imaginative experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/the-nude-does-not-simply-represent-the-body-but-relates-it-by-analogy/)

[Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/)

> [E-books are impervious to analogy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-adams/e-books-are-impervious-to-analogy/)

[Scott Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-adams/)

> [“Yeast is to flour as action is to ambition. Rising to success requires adding and alternating starters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-lilly/yeast-is-to-flour-as-action-is-to-ambition-rising-to-success-requires/)

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[Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/)

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[Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/)

> [The real achievement in discoveries... is seeing an analogy where no one saw one before... The essence of discovery is that unlikely marriage of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-real-achievement-in-discoveries-is-seeing-an-analogy-where-no-one/)

[Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/)

> [The analogy I use is that 'World of Warcraft' is like going to the mall: you see a ton of people there, but you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-romero/the-analogy-i-use-is-that-world-of-warcraft-is-like-going-to-the-mall/)

[John Romero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-romero/)

> [Life is like an analogy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-allston/life-is-like-an-analogy/)

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[Kevin Spacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-spacey/)

> [I do not understand this analogy," Mencheres muttered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeaniene-frost/i-do-not-understand-this-analogy-mencheres-muttered/)

[Jeaniene Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeaniene-frost/)

> [“After Jesus showed up, the Old Testament basically became a way for Bible publishers to keep their word count up. Of course, just because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/after-jesus-showed-up-the-old-testament-basically-became-a-way-for/)

[Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/)

[Browse all 160 Analogy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/analogy/)

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