Don't Quit

 

“There is no failure except in no longer trying.” ~ Elbert Hubbard

I discovered “Think And Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill in my 20s and continue to read or listen to the book at least once a year ever since. One of the stories he tells in the book came back to me this week and I thought to share it with you.

During the gold-rush in the USA, a man left home to go try his luck in Colorado and after a few weeks of digging, he discovered one of the richest mines in Colorado. He went back home, raised some money for the machinery he needed and got back with his nephew to start work. The first few cars of ore were sent to the smelter and the returns proved they had one of the richest mines in the area. Big profits were in sight and the excitement was palpable.

Then! The vein of ore disappeared! They drilled on and on but nothing came up. Dejected, they decided to quit. And since they still had debts to pay, they sold the machinery to a junk man and took a train home.

The junk man called in a mining engineer to look at the abandoned mine. In his assessment, the project had failed because the previous owners were not familiar with fault lines. He calculated that the vein of ore would resurface three feet from where the drilling had stopped. And that is exactly where it was found! The “junk man” took millions of dollars in ore from the mine, because he knew enough to seek expert counsel before giving up.

That nephew was Mr. R. U. Darby who later made a fortune from selling life insurance. His latter success was fueled by the remembrance that he lost a huge fortune because he stopped three feet from gold. His motto in business was henceforth “I stopped three feet from gold, but I will never stop because men say ‘no’ when I ask them to buy insurance.”

This story came to memory when I saw the following poem, titled Don’t Quit:

When things go wrong, as sometimes they 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 buy 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 everyone 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.

Success is failure turned inside out

the silver tint of the clouds of doubt.

And you never can tell how close you are

it may be near when it seems afar.

So stick to the fight

when you’re hardest hit

it’s when things seem worst,

then you mustn’t quit. (Anon)

“Failure is a trickster with a keen sense of irony and cunning. It takes great delight in tripping one when success is almost within reach.” ~ Napoleon Hill