The story is told of Johann Sebastian Bach and his own reflections about diligence. He was asked about his growth in skill, his proficiency and expertise as a musician.
Occasionally he was asked what measures he had undertaken to reach so high a degree of skill in his art. He usually replied: "I have had to be diligent. If anyone will be equally diligent, he will be able to accomplish just as much." He did not make much of, even as he did not depend on, his superior native endowments.
From the book, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Master and His Work
Dick Kaufmann, my pastor and professor in Escondido, often exhorted us to turn away from laziness and sloppy work. If you don't want to work, don't go into the pastorate. Exacting diligence is required. I often found Dick having 3 X 5 cards upright and visible, attached to his car dashboard; he was rehearsing, meditating on, and re-working texts and thoughts of sermon notes. It was like looking at a GPS. Diligence to the 10th power.
G. Mark Sumpter
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