Don't Quit

Don't Quit, is Edgar Albert Guest's uplifting poem that epitomizes the universal theme of perseverance in times of adversity. It delineates a straightforward and inspiring message of hope, encouraging us to persist despite setbacks. Enjoy!

Edgar Albert Guest, known as the People's Poet, was a prolific American poet born in Birmingham, England, in 1881. He came to the United States with his family when he was 10 years old and became a naturalized citizen in 1902.

Guest's career began at the Detroit Free Press, first as a copy boy, and then a reporter. At heart he was always a newspaperman, yet during his life he wrote over 11,000 poems, 300 of which were published in different newspapers. For over 30 years, not a day went by that the Free Press was printed without a Guest verse on its pages. He was the only person to be made Poet Laureate of Michigan.

One of the things that made Guest so popular and enjoyable to read was that he wrote with simplicity yet was able to transform the ordinary into eloquent, optimistic, and uplifting language.

His own formula to success was: "I take simple everyday things that happen to me and I figure it happens to a lot of other people and I make simple rhymes out of them."

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 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;

Often the struggler has given up when he might have captured the victor's cup;
and he learned too late when the night came down,
how close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out - the silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
and when 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, you must not quit.