You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're

In the words of George Horace Lorimer, “You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” This is no idle proverb, but a call to live each day with purpose. Lorimer, the long-serving editor of The Saturday Evening Post, was a man who saw firsthand the struggles, ambitions, and triumphs of countless individuals. From his pen flowed the wisdom that greatness is not stumbled upon, but carved out of the daily rhythm of rising with intent and laying down with the peace of effort well spent.

The heart of this teaching lies in the bond between determination and satisfaction. One cannot harvest joy at dusk without planting labor at dawn. Satisfaction is not born of comfort or idleness, but of struggle embraced and work accomplished. The bed welcomes the weary most kindly when the day has been filled with earnest striving. Thus, Lorimer reminds us that contentment is not a gift delivered to the passive, but the reward of those who rise with fire in their spirit and see their tasks through to the end.

The ancients themselves knew this rhythm. The Roman soldier was trained to rise at first light, sharpen his weapons, and march with resolve. His satisfaction came not from the ease of the day, but from knowing he had done his duty to his comrades and his empire. In the same way, the farmer sowed his fields at dawn, sweating beneath the rising sun, and rested at night with the assurance that the seeds of tomorrow had been faithfully planted. Both soldier and farmer lived the same truth: without morning determination, the night offers no peace.

History gives us living examples of this wisdom. Consider Thomas Edison, who often labored through the early hours, rising with fierce determination to solve the mysteries of invention. His countless failures did not bring despair, but sharpened his resolve. When at last the light bulb shone steadily, he could lay his head down with the deep satisfaction of knowing he had wrestled with darkness and prevailed. Had he approached his mornings with half-hearted effort, the world might never have known the light his determination delivered.

There is an emotional force in Lorimer’s words as well, for he speaks not only of labor, but of dignity. To awaken with determination is to declare that life has meaning, that one’s existence is not driftwood on the tide but a vessel with a chosen course. To sleep with satisfaction is to rest in the knowledge that one has not wasted the precious gift of time. This is more than productivity—it is the soul’s harmony, born of living each day with integrity and purpose.

And yet, this teaching does not demand perfection. Lorimer does not say that one must conquer every task or achieve every goal. He speaks instead of spirit—the determination to rise, to try, to give oneself fully to the hours ahead. Even in failure, such a spirit yields satisfaction, for the heart knows it did not shrink from the challenge. Better the weary sleep of the struggler than the restless night of the idle.

So, O listener, let this lesson be carved upon your heart: rise each morning with resolve, and you will lay down each night with peace. Do not wait for satisfaction to come unearned, but create it with your own hands, your own will, your own fire. Begin the day with courage, live it with effort, and end it with gratitude. For this is the way of the strong, the wise, and the fulfilled: determination at dawn, satisfaction at dusk.

Therefore, take this counsel into your life: tomorrow, when the morning calls, rise with intent. Set your heart upon your purpose, and meet your duties with steadfastness. And when night comes, may your rest be deep, your spirit content, and your soul at peace—for you will know that you have lived the day well.