Reply #26: The measure of character [View All]

is NOT how graciously one accepts victories, but how one reacts to defeats. Winning is pretty easy.

Last Monday night I stopped watching football, because Indianapolis was down by three touchdowns with about 7 minutes left in the game, and came online. Tuesday morning I found out that they had staged the greatest comeback in pro football history and won in overtime. It seems none of their players gave up and ran off to Canada.

Bill Clinton's candidacy was in big trouble just before the 1992 New Hampshire primary. It would have been easy to fold up the tent and run to Canada. He didn't; he famously said he was in it "until the last dog dies." You know the rest: they called him "The Comeback Kid" after that.

I was lucky enough to know a man named Jesse Burke in my youth. He had suffered disfiguring rheumatoid arthritis since childhood, was confined to a flattened-back wheelchair, could barely move his arms, couldn't use the bathroom on his own, and was in constant pain. But he never gave up and never gave in to the pain or his lot in life, and made every effort to enjoy every minute. He played chess and bridge with special equipment (he was very good at both, and a fierce competitor), and participated in all the social events at the institution where he lived. In his room, there was a sign over his bed, which he told me was his life's motto: "A quitter never wins - and a winner never quits."

Jesse is long dead now, but his courage and determination have been an inspiration to me and others. Whenever things are going badly, I think of Jesse Burke's life and attitude, and my situation suddenly doesn't seem so bad.

The point is that if you are willing to give up and run away when things don't go well, you will accomplish nothing. You do yourself, your family, and your country no good at all.

The political battles ahead are not for the weak of heart. We are better off if the crybabies run off now, so they will not be a distraction in the tough times ahead. I bear them no ill will, I wish them well. Just spare me the tearful goodbyes.