To succeed, one must be creative and persistent.

Hear, O seekers of triumph and wisdom, the words of John H. Johnson, a man who rose from the depths of poverty to the heights of influence: “To succeed, one must be creative and persistent.” These words, though simple in their form, carry the weight of centuries, for they reveal the eternal law by which all greatness is forged. For no dream is born without struggle, and no victory is attained without invention. Creativity gives birth to the path; persistence ensures that the traveler reaches the end of it.

John H. Johnson, born in 1918 to humble beginnings in Arkansas, knew this truth not as philosophy but as life itself. The son of a poor family, he dreamed of building a publishing empire that would give voice to his people — a vision few could see and fewer believed possible. When he founded Ebony and Jet magazines, he faced rejection after rejection. Banks would not lend, investors would not believe, and yet, his creativity found a way. He borrowed against his mother’s furniture to print his first edition. And when obstacles rose like mountains before him, his persistence turned them into stepping stones. Through ingenuity and endurance, he built not just a business, but a legacy that transformed how America saw itself.

To be creative is to see beyond what is, into what could be. It is the spark that lights the darkness, the mind’s rebellion against impossibility. The creative soul does not accept defeat; it asks, “What new way can I try?” When the roads are blocked, it carves a new one through the wilderness. When the world says “no,” it replies with invention. And yet, creativity alone is not enough, for ideas are fragile — they die without the breath of persistence, the steady fire that keeps them alive when winds of doubt and hardship blow.

Think, O listeners, of Thomas Edison, who failed a thousand times before creating the light that now banishes our nights. When asked how he endured so many defeats, he said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found a thousand ways that won’t work.” That is the heart of persistence — to stand when others fall, to try again when all strength seems spent, to believe that within every failure hides a fragment of success. The persistent spirit turns trial into teacher, and delay into destiny.

But the union of creativity and persistence is the true alchemy of success. The one imagines the impossible; the other makes it real. Without creativity, effort is aimless; without persistence, vision is wasted. The great sculptor Michelangelo saw the angel trapped in the stone and carved until it was free — such is the way of the creative and the persistent. For the world resists change, but the patient artist, the steadfast inventor, the enduring dreamer — they shape the world anew through their faith and their labor.

Yet know this, my children of ambition: the path of success is long and often lonely. There will be days when your ideas are mocked, your efforts unseen, your heart weary. But do not despair. The seed does not sprout in sunlight alone — it must first endure the darkness beneath the soil. So too must you endure the seasons of struggle, trusting that your persistence will one day break through to the light. Let failure not wound you, but sharpen you; let doubt not bind you, but drive you deeper into discovery.

Take this wisdom as your daily guide: when life closes one door, do not stand weeping — build another. When your plans fall apart, reimagine them. When you are tired, remember why you began. To succeed is not to walk an easy road, but to keep walking when the road vanishes. Be as water — creative in form, persistent in motion — able to flow around obstacles or wear them down with time. The world bows not to brilliance alone, but to the soul that refuses to surrender.

So, remember the teaching of John H. Johnson: success is not granted to the clever alone, nor to the strong, but to those who can imagine what is unseen and endure until it is made real. Let your creativity be the flame that guides you, and your persistence the fuel that sustains you. Dream boldly, act tirelessly, and never lose heart. For the world itself is shaped not by those who tried once, but by those who never ceased to try — those who, against all odds, created the impossible and then refused to let it die.