Ross Perot, one of the most successful self-made entrepreneurs in American history, once said: most people give up just when they are about to achieve success. They quit on the one-yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from the winning touchdown. Tracy takes this observation and builds the entire final chapter around it. Because the research he has gathered from thousands of high achievers tells the same story, again and again: the people who achieve their goals are not always the most talented or the most intelligent. They are the ones who did not stop. Napoleon Hill, in Think and Grow Rich, wrote: before success comes in any man's life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps, some failure. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is quit. And that is exactly what the majority of men and women do. Hill's word choice is precise: temporary defeat. Not permanent failure. The difference is in the interpretation. Persistent people interpret setbacks as information, not verdict. They extract the lesson and adjust the plan. People who quit interpret setbacks as evidence that the goal was wrong or that they are incapable. Tracy also quotes Florence Scovel Shinn: every great work, every big accomplishment, has been brought into manifestation through holding to the vision, and often just before the big achievement comes apparent failure and discouragement. This is the cruelest pattern in goal pursuit. Apparent failure appears most forcefully right before the breakthrough. The person who quits at this point will never know how close they were. For Biodun, who has applied to five competitions and been rejected from all five: the question is not whether rejection means he is wrong. It is whether he is willing to apply six times.