Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

In Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, Angela Duckworth, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, looks at grit—passion coupled with perseverance—as being essential to success and achievement. The book pushes back on society’s overreliance on talent to explain excellence and instead highlights what relentless effort and an unwavering focus on a goal can achieve. Duckworth tells the story of grit’s role in human flourishing by weaving together biographies and interviews with highly successful individuals, “grit paragons” (p. 60), with largely jargon-free summaries of psychological research on topics such as passion, optimism, interest, and excellence.The book is organized into three…