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The Old Man and the Sea Perseverance Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Day.Paragraph). We artificially created chapters by defining "days," because there are no chapter breaks in The Old Man and the Sea. Here’s how we divided up the days:
  • Day 1 = the start of the book until the old man falls asleep for the night
  • Day 2 = begins when the old man wakes up and goes until sunrise of the next day
  • Day 3 = begins at sunrise and goes until the old man dreams about the lions
  • Day 4 = begins when the old man wakes and ends when the old man gets back to his shack for the night
  • Day 5 = begins with the boy seeing the old man in the morning and goes until the end of the book

Quote #16

The old man is superior to others not because of his strength, but because of his willingness to endure pain and his determination to win.

Although the black man is a better athlete than the old man, the old man is more determined and therefore wins.

Quote #17

The old man uses his own determination to test the limits of that of the fish.

The old man’s determination pays off; while he cannot beat the fish in strength, he slowly wears him down instead.

Quote #18

That the old man speaks to himself illustrates the intensity of the situation; he has to verbally convince himself to endure.

Because the old man addresses his body, we see a difference in psychological determination, which is undying, and physical determination, which has its limits.