Lincoln said, "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." Ask yourself, "Have I ever been in a project or effort that the whole thing was stuck on one step?" Did anyone utter the quote about sharpening an axe? And, how did its utterance make you feel?

Have you ever had someone give you the "we're just three feet from gold, try harder speech"? Did it motivate you?

Both statements are right and wrong at the same time. Let's examine each one's context to figure out how they are both still relevant.