Don't Quit!
December 1940 January 1941 National Radio News Article

Dec '40/Jan '41 National Radio News [Table of Contents]  These articles are scanned and OCRed from old editions of the National Radio News magazine. Here is a list of the National Radio News articles I have already posted. All copyrights are hereby acknowledged.

When I first saw the title of this poem from a 1941 edition of National Radio News, I thought it was going to be a plea to amateur radio operators not to give up their hobby just because the government would eventually prohibit broadcasting during the World War II years. As it turns out, the poem predated that era and is instead a generic encouragement to the magazine's readers to press on regardless of obstacles. It did show up in the Christmas issue, so maybe it was simply a message in the spirit of peace on Earth and goodwill toward man. In these harsh years of the government fomenting division and class envy amongst its citizens, it's kind of hard to relate to such a gentle, kindly mindset, but indeed it did once exist in America. Anyway, I though it was worth reprinting here. "Don't Quit" is sort of a simpler version of Rudyard Kipling's famous poem of inspiration titled "If."

Don't Quit!

When things go wrong - as they oft times will;

When the fight you're making is all "up hill" ;

When funds are low and debts are high

And you try to smile but are forced to sigh;

When cares sap your energy, every whit -

Rest, if you must, but don't you quit!

Life is strange, with its twists and turns -

As, sooner or later, each of us learns -

And many a beaten man turns about

When he might have won, had he stuck it out!

Never give up! Nor pause to fret!

You may arrive with one more step!

Success is failure turned inside out -

The "silver tint" of the "cloud" of doubt -

And you never can tell how close you are;

It's often near when it still seems far.

So, still fight on when you're hardest hit!

It's then, most of all, you shouldn't quit!

- Anonymous.

Posted April 17, 2014