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.
Persist (see also CONTINUE ) may imply a virtue, 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,