persevere

persevere, persist are both used in reference to persons in the sense of to continue in a given course in the face of difficulty or opposition.

Persevere nearly always implies an admirable quality; it suggests both refusal to be discouraged by failure, doubts, or difficulties, and a steadfast or dogged pursuit of an end or an undertaking

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I will persevere in my course of loyalty, though the conflict be sore between that and my blood— Shak.

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for, strength to persevere and to support, and energy to conquer and repel — these elements of virtue, that declare the native grandeur of the human soul— Wordsworth

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I do not intend to take that cowardly course, but, on the contrary, to stand to my post and persevere in accordance with my duty—Sir Winston Churchill

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Persist (see also CONTINUE)may imply a virtue

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this is the poetry within history, this is what causes mankind to persist beyond every defeat— J. S. Untermeyer

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but it more often suggests a disagreeable or annoying quality, for it stresses stubbornness or obstinacy more than courage or patience and frequently implies opposition to advice, remonstrance, disapproval, or one's own conscience

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persist in working when ill

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it is hard to see how they can have persisted so long in inflicting useless misery— Russell

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Analogous words: *continue, abide, endure, last

Contrasted words: vary, *change, alter: waver, vacillate, falter, *hesitate