Motivation, by definition, concerns the choice and direction of a particular action, the effort expended on it and the persistence with it. While most scholars would agree with this conceptualisation, the curious fact is that one of the motivational dimensions – persistence – has received far less attention in past research than the other components. This imbalance is in contrast with the perception of classroom practitioners, who know all too well that student motivation is not constant but displays continuous ebbs and flows as well as a steady ‘leak’, that is, a tendency to peter out with time. For these reasons, a better understanding of the nature of student perseverance is crucial for promoting sustained learning behaviours that are required for the mastery of an L2. In this speech, I will first briefly addresses the question of why motivation theories have traditionally displayed a certain amount of uneasiness in relating motivation to time, and then I will describe the main components of long-term motivation and persistence, offering a variety of strategies on how to promote passion, perseverance and endurance in language learners.