My Don’t Quit Coffee Cup

“Don't Quit” is two verses of a poem on my favorite coffee mug.

Do you have some favorite mementos? Something, whether expensive or not, that reminds you of something significant in your past?

I was just making another mug of coffee and sat down in my beBee Cave (my home office) to Tweet some more articles from beBee through my Twitter Network, and realized I had grabbed my” Don’t Quit” mug from the cupboard.

A good friend of ours, Sheryl, gave me this mug back in the early 1990’s and it was a gift of encouragement for a business venture we had undertaken together.

It’s not an expensive mug and it now has a little chip on the rim and a crack where the handle attaches to the mug, but I will never toss this mug memento away.

Every now and then, when I drink from this mug, I glance at the two verses displayed on each side of the mug and re-read them…

…and ponder.

The words are always a good reminder for me, at the times when I waver on an idea or a project and wonder if it is still worthwhile pursuing.

Do you have moments like that? Or is it only me?

Some years ago I “googled” the first line of the words on my mug and found the poem online.

And guess what?

There were actually has four verses and the middle two verses were omitted on the mug.

So here is the poem with the four verses below. I hope you both enjoy and benefit from these wise words.

Don’t Quit

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 failure 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 slipped down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

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 so far,

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit

It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

- Attributed to Edgar A. Guest's poem "Keep Going" as it appeared on 4 March 1921 in the Detroit Free Press.

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