The older I get, the greater power I seem to have to help the

Susan B. Anthony, warrior for justice and mother of suffrage, proclaimed with triumphant certainty: “The older I get, the greater power I seem to have to help the world; I am like a snowball—the further I am rolled the more I gain.” In these words she reveals the mystery of perseverance: that time, which often weakens the body, can strengthen the spirit and multiply influence. For a life spent in unyielding service gathers force as it moves, like a snowball rolling down the mountain, becoming vast and unstoppable.

The ancients knew this truth. Cato the Elder, though mocked for his age, declared that experience and persistence gave him more weight than youthful strength. The Romans revered the authority of the senatus, for the wisdom of age carried greater power than the rashness of the young. Anthony echoes this ancient recognition: that to endure faithfully in one’s cause is to grow in power, even as years advance.

History itself bears witness in Anthony’s life. As a young woman she fought against mockery and rejection; her voice was small, and her influence limited. Yet with every year, with every speech, with every act of defiance against injustice, she gathered more followers, more courage, and more unassailable authority. By the time of her old age, she was not merely a reformer, but a symbol—an avalanche of moral force that no ruler could ignore. Her “snowball” had become a mountain in motion.

This truth extends beyond her. Consider Moses, who was called to lead not in youth but in the maturity of eighty years. His long life of trial and exile had prepared him to bear the weight of a people’s liberation. Time had not diminished him; it had rolled him forward, gathering strength for the moment of destiny. So too do the faithful, when steadfast in their mission, find that the passing years increase their power to help the world.

Let the generations remember: greatness is not born in an instant, but gathered slowly, like snow upon snow, through struggle, patience, and unshaken conviction. The world may dismiss the small beginnings of the faithful, but time is their ally, for every year of persistence adds weight and force to their cause. Susan B. Anthony teaches that when life is devoted to service, age is not decline but ascension—the transformation of the soul into an irresistible power for good.