Miskatonic University PressA quote from Wilfred Thesiger to remember and use whenever one does something that is at the moment difficult even if others would not think it is: “I daresay, not much of a challenge; but a challenge all the same.”
I came across it years ago in a review or excerpt and never forgot it. A few days ago I found the source thanks to the Internet Archive (check it out). It’s from the end of Wilfred Thesiger: The Life of the Great Explorer by Alexander Maitland (London: Harper, 2004). Note that in June 2003 Thesiger turned 93.
Towards the end of April 2003, Thesiger began to look very frail indeed. For the first week of May he was confined to bed: On 16 May, after a fall, he was X-rayed at St Helier Hospital for a suspected hip fracture. He had no broken bones, but suffered much pain for several days, and after that continued to have difficulty in walking even aided by one of his heavy African walking sticks. For some time he had needed help with dressing, and it was becoming evident that he could no longer fend for himself in other ways. On 11 August he was moved to the Selkirk Nursing Wing, adjoining Woodcote Grove House, where he had a room on the ground floor with a view of the garden. He still preferred, however, to walk (with assistance) the short distance to the main house and have lunch and supper with the other residents. Even this he viewed courageously, and without resignation, as a challenge: “I daresay, not much of a challenge; but a challenge all the same.”
I daresay, not much of a challenge; but a challenge all the same.