The Quitter

In the famous naval duel between the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis , John Paul Jones was hailed by his adversary to know whether he struck his colors. "I have not yet begun to fight," was his answer. When the surrender took place, it was not Jones's ship that became the prize of war. Everybody admires a hard fighter--the man who takes buffets standing up, and in a spirit of "Never say die" is always ready for more.

                                                            

  When you're lost in the wild and you're scared as a child,

    And death looks you bang in the eye;

  And you're sore as a boil, it's according to Hoyle

    To cock your revolver and die.

  But the code of a man says fight all you can,

    And self-dissolution is barred;

  In hunger and woe, oh it's easy to blow--

    It's the hell served for breakfast that's hard.

  You're sick of the game? Well now, that's a shame!

    You're young and you're brave and you're bright.

  You've had a raw deal, I know, but don't squeal.

    Buck up, do your damnedest and fight!

  It's the plugging away that will win you the day,

    So don't be a piker, old pard;

  Just draw on your grit; it's so easy to quit--

    It's the keeping your chin up that's hard.

  It's easy to cry that you're beaten and die,

    It's easy to crawfish and crawl,

  But to fight and to fight when hope's out of sight,

    Why, that's the best game of them all.

  And though you come out of each grueling bout,

    All broken and beaten and scarred--

  Just have one more try. It's dead easy to die,

    It's the keeping on living that's hard.

  

by Robert W. Service.

From "Rhymes of a Rolling Stone."