I am looking for some quotes that embody the following elements:
Endurance   Determination   Perseverance   Success   Faith in oneself
Strength to get the job done.    Steadfastness   Humility  

Ideally, I would like something with a water reference…specifically,
something that has to do with how if a person keeps paddling the boat
they will reach their goals…but that might not exist.

Here are some that I like, but don't completely hit the mark:

“That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do; not that the
nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is
increased.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and
endeavors to live the life, which he has imagined, he will meet with a
success unexpected in common hours.”~Henry David Thoreau

“Just start. And don't stop.” ~Charles Burke

“There are but two roads that lead to an important goal and to the
doing of great things: strength and perseverance. Strength is the lot
of but a few privileged men; but austere perseverance, harsh and
continuous, may be employed by the smallest of us and rarely fails of
its purpose, for its silent power grows irresistibly greater with
time.” ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“What lies behind us.  And what lies before us.  Are tiny matters
compared to what lies within us.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thank you very much for you time & effort.

Hello.

I have located several water-oriented quotations that seem to convey
perseverance and the other qualities that you mention.

"If you don't make a total commitment to whatever you're doing, then
you start looking to bail out the first time the boat starts leaking. 
It's tough enough getting that boat to shore with everybody rowing,
let alone when a person stands up and starts putting his or her life
jacket on."
-Lou Holtz
source: livinglifefully.com
http://www.livinglifefully.com/determination.html

"Be like a duck, calm on the surface, but always paddling like the
dickens underneath."--Michael Caine
source: cyberquotations.com
http://www.cyberquotations.com/quotes5.htm

"The secret of success is to be like a duck, Smooth and unruffled on
top,
But paddling furiously underneath."
--- Bill Cosby
source: motivateus.com
http://www.motivateus.com/cust-7.htm


"The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it."
-Woodrow Wilson 
source: brainyquote.com
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/q124632.html

"Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world knows
nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement, and we will
make the goal."
---Jerome Fleishman 
source: smiley963.tripod.com
http://smiley963.tripod.com/inspirational.html

"Business is like a man rowing a boat upstream. He has no choice; he
must go ahead or he will go back." - Lewis E. Pierson
source: hamlinx.com
http://hamlinx.com/personal/quotes/quotes2.html

"Don't look for The Truth. That is too big an idea for human beings.
Proceed as if you are rowing a boat. Let the truth remain behind your
back. As you proceed forward, just keep pulling on the oars and
pushing illusion away from you, and you will make gradual progress
toward truth." ~Guru Bawa
http://members.fortunecity.com/midnight_poet/More_Quotes.html

"Life is like swimming in a river. If you don't move upstream, you go
backwards." - Unknown
source: tyler.net
http://www.tyler.net/tyr7020/wise.htm

" Don’t wait for your ship to come in, swim out to it."
-Anonymous
source: lorober.com
http://www.lorober.com/Favorites/documents/quotesRead.htm


search strategy:
quotations, quotes, perseverance, etc.
row, rowing, boat, swim, swimming, paddling, etc

I hope that these quotations meet your needs. If not, please let me
know via the "request clarification" feature, and I'll resume my
search.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by quoteseeker-ga on 23 May 2003 17:14 PDT

Wow!  I am really impressed.  If it is not too much trouble and you
are able to find more...I am hoping to find something less about
"going against the tide/stream/etc" but more like someone who "keeps
focused on their goal unitl it is complete:  humble, steadfast,
reliable, etc.  The water reference was because my husband calls
himself "a paddler"--(the one who keeps working diligently to get the
job done).  But it is optional.

He is about to complete a doctoral degree and I was looking for
something to print up for a card for all to sign.

Please don't go to too much trouble...I greatly appreciate what you
found!  It took me hours to find what I included...you replied in such
a short time!!!

---

Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 23 May 2003 19:16 PDT

Hi.

Okay, I've located some other quotations that I think convey the
meaning that you intend.

"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems
longer."
-Albert Einstein
http://www.thevirtues.org/old/site/07-Perseverance.html

"Only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find his
right road."
-Dag Hammarskjold
http://www.thevirtues.org/site/07-Perseverance.html

"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which
difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish."
-John Quincy Adams
http://www.wow4u.com/perseverance/

"Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength
lies solely in my tenacity. "
-Louis Pasteur
http://www.habits-of-mind.net/persisting.htm

"Energy and persistence conquer all things."
-Benjamin Franklin
http://www.habits-of-mind.net/persisting.htm
"Life is not easy for any of us. We must have perseverance and above
all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for
something and that this thing must be attained."
-Marie Curie
http://www.wow4u.com/perseverance/

"I never could have done what I have done without the habits of
punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to
concentrate myself on one subject at a time..."
-Charles Dickens
http://www.wow4u.com/determination/

Each of these links has additional quotations with the same theme.

Let me know what you think of these quotations. If you need more,
please use the "requestion clarification" feature, and I'll keep
searching. Thanks.

This is the first time using GA.  LOVE IT!  So worth the $$.  My
researcher, juggler-ga, found my answers in a shorter time than it
took me to compose the question and get it posted!!  Thank you so
much.

I find these simple lyrics to be inspiring:

I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry

(from "The River," by Garth Brooks and Victoria Shaw)

Quotseeker:
Thank you for the tip.
-juggler

That should have been "Quoteseeker."
Sorry for the typo.