“Rome was not built in a day” is a very common and oft-quoted proverb. This proverb is an indication of long patience to get success in a particular pursuit. There was a time when Rome was supposed to be the most civilized and beautiful city of the world. Rome was the capital of ancient Roman Empire. It was once the Great and magnificent city. It was correctly regarded as the symbol of the greatness of the Great Roman Empire. Everything flourished in Rome at that time. There were great writers, painters and philosophers. The life of the Romans was peaceful and full of pleasure.

But Rome did not suddenly emerge from dust and stood in perfect shape within the twinkling of an eye. Rome did not become so great in a short time. Such a state was the result of the centuries of continuous labour. Countless men worked there and immeasurable amount of money must have been spent over it.  Rome was the city of beautiful parks, gardens, tanks and high and magnificent buildings. It was also at the highest peak of its art and literature, its culture and traditions. All these things were built bit by bit. From this greatness of Rome and the time and patience money and labour which it took, we take a lesson. It was not built by Aladdin with his magic lamp. We must also be ready for hard labour with patience to get success in any undertaking. If we want to be successful in our life, we should work hard and wait patiently for the consequence. We should not lose heart. It is not difficult to overcome a difficulty if we are men of determination. We people begin the work in the morning and want to reap its consequence in the evening. This is useless and impossible also. We will have to wait patiently for the result.

Thus, the saying “Rome was not built in a day” teaches us a lesson that nothing great can be done and won in hurry or by the confused and half-hearted labour. It can be done by long patience and continuous labour. Laborious attempts, patience and keenness in the job are necessary to get success in the work. This labour leads us to success. Our life is not a bed of roses. It is full of thorns. We have to meet the obstacles everywhere in every walk of life. As such, we should have the steel courage and iron determination to get success in any work. If we are well determined to do a work, we are sure to taste its sweet result.

Hundreds of examples can be cited here to prove this. The story of King Robert Bruce and the Spider is well known. Robert Bruce, the King of Scotland was driven out of the country. He fought many times to defeat the enemies’ bus all in vain. He lost his heart. He was hiding himself in a cave. There he saw a spider. It was trying to go up the ceiling. It tried eight times to go up and all the times it fell down. Robert Bruce thought that it would not attempt. But bravo! That spider once more attempted. It was the 9th time. This time, the spider was successful. Now, Bruce also came out of the cave and gathered the army. This time he was successful. The success was the result of his patience and labour.

We can take the example of the Taj, the wonder of wonders, a magnificent dream in marble. It is alleged to be the 8th wonder of the world. But this living monument of love was not made with the help of the magic lamp of Aladdin. It took at least 20years for its construction. Nearly twenty thousand workers worked continuously day and night to complete the building. Nearly, twenty crores of rupees were spent over it. Actually, it needed great time patience and wealth.

Again, the pyramids of Egypt were also not constructed in a day or so. No one can guess the time and labour which these pyramids of Egypt consumed.

The perfection of science is also not the result of a day’s labour. The scientists worked day and night and so many of them sacrificed their whole life for the perfection of science.

We can give the example of India’s struggle for freedom.  India is free today.  It got its freedom on the 15th August, 1974. But, this freedom was not achieved within the twinkling of an eye. More than 60years were devoted in continuous struggle for this. Thousands of persons sacrificed their life for this. So many young men were either shot dead or hanged by the Britishers as they were trying to free India. Gandhiji, Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. Rajendra Prasad and many others had to suffer much and had to go to jail many times for this freedom. At last, India got freedom which was the result of continuous labour, patience and sacrifice.

Do we not know that Tenzing was simply a porter in the previous expedition? But on account of his courage and iron determination, he got victory over Everest, the highest peak of India.

If we give a cursory look to the literary figures, we shall see that all of them had to suffer much before getting a curtain measure of success.
As such, the proverb “Rome was not built in a day” is a plea for patient toil for a very long period for a given cause. No one can acquire fame in a day. Lives of great men remind us to pursue our purpose with firm determination and perseverance. All the great personalities of the world worked hard before they got small success in their life. We all know that the heights reached by great men were not attained by a sudden fight but while their companions were sleeping, they were toiling upward in the night.