Perseverance is like optimism: It has always had a good press. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”, an ancient English king is reported to have remarked, having watched a spider build a web after many bad starts. That is certainly good advice for spiders. Also for kings, who are usually born rich. For ordinary men and women like you and me, struggling to make a buck, it is advice that should be heeded selectively.
