The Right Kind of Stubborn

Paul Graham · 1 Jul 2024

The piece opens with

The persistent and the obstinate are both hard to stop: the persistent like a boat whose engine cannot be throttled back, the obstinate like one whose rudder cannot be turned.

Their wordsThe reason the persistent and the obstinate seem similar is that they're both hard to stop. But they're hard to stop in different senses. The persistent are like boats whose engines can't be throttled back. The obstinate are like boats whose rudders can't be turned.

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Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
The persistent and the obstinate are both hard to stop: the persistent like a boat whose engine cannot be throttled back, the obstinate like one whose rudder cannot be turned.

Their wordsThe reason the persistent and the obstinate seem similar is that they're both hard to stop. But they're hard to stop in different senses. The persistent are like boats whose engines can't be throttled back. The obstinate are like boats whose rudders can't be turned.
Our reading
Persistence and obstinacy are different behaviours: the persistent are attached to the goal, the obstinate to their ideas about how to reach it.

Their wordsThe persistent are attached to the goal. The obstinate are attached to their ideas about how to reach it.
Our reading
Resilience means setbacks cannot change your morale, not that they cannot change your mind, and persistence often requires changing your mind.

Their wordsBut resilience is not the same as obstinacy. Resilience means setbacks can't change your morale, not that they can't change your mind. Indeed, persistence often requires that one change one's mind.
Our reading
Persistence is five qualities combined (energy, imagination, resilience, good judgement and focus on a goal) and only resembles obstinacy in that it keeps you from giving up.

Their wordsFive distinct qualities — energy, imagination, resilience, good judgement, and focus on a goal — combine to produce a phenomenon that seems a bit like obstinacy in the sense that it causes you not to give up.

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