Journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step?

Question

I remember a story from my Jr high teacher saying when a College professor was in high school he supposed to finish an essay. His teacher calls him up and he just said (Journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step). Was this story true? If it was can ya,ll tell me the man who said this and his full story.

Answer 1

The quote is from Confucius

Confucius (September 28, 551 BC - 479 BC) was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher, whose teachings and philosophy have deeply influenced Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese thought and life.

His philosophy emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. These values gained prominence in China over other doctrines. Confucius' thoughts have been developed into a system of philosophy known as Confucianism. It was introduced to Europe by the Jesuit Matteo Ricci, who was the first to Latinize the name as "Confucius."

His teachings may be found in the Analects of Confucius  a collection of "brief aphoristic fragments", which was compiled many years after his death. Modern historians do not believe that any specific documents can be said to have been written by Confucius, but for nearly 2,000 years he was thought to be the editor or author of all the Five Classics.

Re Lao Tzu:

According to Chinese tradition, Lao Tzu lived in the 6th century BC but  historians variously contend that Lao Tzu is a synthesis of multiple historical figures, that he is a mythical figure, or that he actually lived in the 4th century BC.

Answer 2

I'm not sure what story you're referring to.  But the quote, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," is from the Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu (604 BC - 531 BC).