Ever forward, but slowly.

The aphorism urges persistence without haste: progress matters more than speed. “Ever forward” frames life (or a campaign, project, or moral effort) as a continual advance, while “but slowly” adds restraint—acknowledging limits, fatigue, and the value of steady consolidation. Read this way, the line balances ambition with patience, suggesting that durable gains come from incremental movement rather than reckless leaps. If attributed to Blücher, it can also be heard as a maxim of leadership under pressure: keep momentum, but avoid overextension—an attitude that prizes endurance and reliability over dramatic but unsustainable bursts of action.