Heard these words echoing in my brain today and thought I’d share them. Edgar Guest was known as the “People’s Poet,” and you’ll soon understand why.
Tempted to give up? Don’t. Read this. Print it out. Memorize it. Let it speak to you when you need the reminder.
Don’t Quit
By: Edgar Albert Guest
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow –
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor’s cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out –
The silver tint in the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It might be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit –
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.
I was exponentially blessed to have a grandfather with the brain of an engineer and the heart and eyes of a poet. He introduced me to Guest and I am glad to pass one sliver of Guest’s work along.
Here’s to Pop, still getting his Princess through tough times.
The World of Before You 