When Britain's great Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, was young, he attended a public school called Harrow. He was not a good student, and as a matter of fact, had he not been the son of a famous leader, he probably would have been expelled for his offences. However, he completed his work at Harrow, went on to university, and then had a successful career in the British Army. He later was elected prime minister and inspired Britain with his leadership during World War II.
Toward the end of his tenure, he was invited to address the students at his old school, Harrow. The headmaster announced, "Young gentlemen, the greatest speaker of our time, our prime minister, will be here to address you soon."
When the day arrived, Churchill stood up and delivered a short but powerful speech: "Young men, never give up. Never give up! Never give up! Never, never, never, never!"
Personal history, education, or circumstances cannot hold back a determined spirit. Consider Abraham Lincoln, elected U.S. President in 1860. He grew up in poverty on the frontier, with only one year of formal schooling. His early life was marked by repeated failures:
- 1832: Lost his job and was defeated for the Illinois legislature.
- 1833: Failed in business.
- 1834: Elected to the state legislature, but his beloved died in 1835.
- 1838 & 1843: Defeated for higher office in Illinois and for Congress.
- 1846: Elected to Congress, but lost re-election in 1848.
- 1849: Denied a government job.
- 1854 & 1858: Defeated for the U.S. Senate.
- 1856: Defeated for Vice President.
Despite these setbacks, Lincoln is remembered as one of America's greatest presidents.
History is filled with individuals who overcame immense challenges:
- Lock a man in a damp prison, and you get John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim's Progress.
- Bury a man in the snows of Valley Forge, and you get General George Washington.
- Render a musical genius deaf, and you get composer Ludwig van Beethoven.
- Have a man born Black in a racially divided society, and you get civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
- Have a child of Holocaust survivors lose the ability to walk at age four, and you get virtuoso violinist Itzhak Perlman.
- Label a child slow to learn and write him off as stupid, and you get physicist Albert Einstein.