--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Progress however, of the best kind, is…" description: "\"Progress however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e7/samuel-smiles-2037_advance_progress-however-of-the-best-kind-is-com_445479.png" --- # Progress however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow… ![“Progress however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step.” quote by Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e7/samuel-smiles-2037_advance_progress-however-of-the-best-kind-is-com_445479.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e7/samuel-smiles-2037_advance_progress-however-of-the-best-kind-is-com_445479.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e7/samuel-smiles-2037_advance_progress-however-of-the-best-kind-is-com_445479.png) > “Progress however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step.” [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Steady, incremental progress yields lasting results; patience and persistence are essential. **In simple terms:** Slow progress is best. Key Takeaway Value patience and consistent effort. Themes perseverance growth patience incremental progress Mood determined steady Type motivational pragmatic When to use this quote - career development - learning new skills - fitness training - financial planning Key Concepts self-improvement motivation goal setting Questions to Reflect On - What small step can you take today? - How do you stay motivated over long periods? A Different Perspective Rapid change can lead to burnout or superficial outcomes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Advance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advance/) [Comparatively Slow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparatively-slow-3898473/) [Great results](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-results/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Progress Best](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress-best-3898472/) [Results](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/results/) [Satisfied](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satisfied/) [Slow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slow/) [Step By Step](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/step-by-step/) ## Related quotes > [Progress, of the best kind, is comparatively slow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/progress-of-the-best-kind-is-comparatively-slow/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The best way to advance in a career is to get great results while working with people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-cloud/the-best-way-to-advance-in-a-career-is-to-get-great-results-while/) [Henry Cloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-cloud/) > [A ball is like a very disciplined child. It does exactly what it is told to do. Great information, great direction and great results.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-palubinskas/a-ball-is-like-a-very-disciplined-child-it-does-exactly-what-it-is/) [Ed Palubinskas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-palubinskas/) > [When you do something half-heartedly, you don't get much of a result. When you do it fully, you get a great result.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/when-you-do-something-half-heartedly-you-don-t-get-much-of-a-result/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [In our own days we have seen no princes accomplish great results save those who have been accounted miserly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/in-our-own-days-we-have-seen-no-princes-accomplish-great-results-save/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Self-Made Men are the men who owe little or nothing to birth, relationship, friendly surroundings; to wealth inherited or to early approved means of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/self-made-men-are-the-men-who-owe-little-or-nothing-to-birth/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [I love things that cost nothing that have great results.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-a-schwarzman/i-love-things-that-cost-nothing-that-have-great-results/) [Stephen A. 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One of those people who are able to do whatever they want with great results.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liam-neeson/rihanna-is-a-very-talented-person-one-of-those-people-who-are-able-to/) [Liam Neeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liam-neeson/) > [It is difficult to find another branch of knowledge where a small amount of study produces such great results in increased efficiency in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-difficult-to-find-another-branch-of-knowledge-where-a-small/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Great groups deliver great results. And for everyone involved in a great group, great work is its own reward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-g-bennis/great-groups-deliver-great-results-and-for-everyone-involved-in-a/) [Warren G. Bennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-g-bennis/) > [Only great and general battles can produce great results](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/only-great-and-general-battles-can-produce-great-results/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) ## More by Samuel Smiles > [Biographies of great, but especially of good men are most instructive and useful as helps, guides, and incentives to others. Some of the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/biographies-of-great-but-especially-of-good-men-are-most-instructive/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [Diligence, above all, is the mother of good luck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/diligence-above-all-is-the-mother-of-good-luck/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The women of the poorer classes make sacrifices, and run risks, and bear privations, and exercise patience and kindness to a degree that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-women-of-the-poorer-classes-make-sacrifices-and-run-risks-and/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [Self-respect is the noblest garment with which a man can clothe himself, the most elevating feeling with which the mind can be inspired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/self-respect-is-the-noblest-garment-with-which-a-man-can-clothe/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The experience gathered from books, though often valuable, is but of the nature of learning; whereas, the experience gained from actual life is of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-experience-gathered-from-books-though-often-valuable-is-but-of/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The apprenticeship of difficulty is one which the greatest of men have had to serve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-apprenticeship-of-difficulty-is-one-which-the-greatest-of-men/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The spirit of self-help is the root of all genuine growth in the individual; and, exhibited in the lives of many, it constitutes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-spirit-of-self-help-is-the-root-of-all-genuine-growth-in-the/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The wise man... if he would live at peace with others, he will bear and forbear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-wise-man-if-he-would-live-at-peace-with-others-he-will-bear-and/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [Those who are the most persistent, and work in the true spirit, will invariably be the most successful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/those-who-are-the-most-persistent-and-work-in-the-true-spirit-will/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The iron rail proved a magicians' road. It virtually reduced England to a sixth of its size. It brought the country nearer to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-iron-rail-proved-a-magicians-road-it-virtually-reduced-england-to/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [This extraordinary metal, the soul of every manufacture, and the mainspring perhaps of civilised society. Of iron.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/this-extraordinary-metal-the-soul-of-every-manufacture-and-the/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [Man cannot aspire if he looked down; if he rise, he must look up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/man-cannot-aspire-if-he-looked-down-if-he-rise-he-must-look-up/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The life of a good man is at the same time the most eloquent lesson of virtue and the most severe reproof of vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-life-of-a-good-man-is-at-the-same-time-the-most-eloquent-lesson/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [It is a grand old name, that of gentleman, and has been recognized as a rank and power in all stages of society. 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Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vernon-a-walters/) > [It's more common than not that bipolar illness will start in the teens. One of the reasons I spend a lot of time on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/it-s-more-common-than-not-that-bipolar-illness-will-start-in-the/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [The advance of science spares us from irrational dread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/the-advance-of-science-spares-us-from-irrational-dread/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [Some companies out there quote a start of production that is substantially in advance of when customers get their cars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/some-companies-out-there-quote-a-start-of-production-that-is/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [My priority in life is my whanau, followed by my work as an artist, which has blessed me with the ability to provide opportunities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cliff-curtis/my-priority-in-life-is-my-whanau-followed-by-my-work-as-an-artist/) [Cliff Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cliff-curtis/) > [Others have said it before me. If you don't have a seat at the table, you're probably on the menu. And so it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/others-have-said-it-before-me-if-you-don-t-have-a-seat-at-the-table/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) > [What I have in advance are people I want to write about and a problem or problems that I see those people encountering and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/what-i-have-in-advance-are-people-i-want-to-write-about-and-a-problem/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [Error is discipline through which we advance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/error-is-discipline-through-which-we-advance/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [I think it's important to earn your fan base and not just try to immediately advance to the top. If you ride to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-mraz/i-think-it-s-important-to-earn-your-fan-base-and-not-just-try-to/) [Jason Mraz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-mraz/) > [The Chinese public is deeply nationalist, which matters to China's unelected political leadership as much as U.S. nationalism does to American politicians. As China…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-feldman/the-chinese-public-is-deeply-nationalist-which-matters-to-china-s/) [Noah Feldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-feldman/) > [Some might complain that nuclear disarmament is little more than a dream. But that ignores the very tangible benefits disarmament would bring for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ban-ki-moon/some-might-complain-that-nuclear-disarmament-is-little-more-than-a/) [Ban Ki-moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ban-ki-moon/) > [Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/let-our-advance-worrying-become-advance-thinking-and-planning/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Let us not bankrupt our todays by paying interest on the regrets of yesterday and by borrowing in advance the troubles of tomorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-w-sockman-2/let-us-not-bankrupt-our-todays-by-paying-interest-on-the-regrets-of/) [Ralph W. 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