Never, Never, Never, Give Up

Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi Banker, an Economist, founder of Grameen Bank and 

the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2006, said:

"Each of us has much more hidden inside us than we have had a chance to explore. Unless 

we create an environment that enables us to discover the limits of our potential, we will 

never know what we have inside of us."

Since the day a baby is born, it is the responsibility of the parents to mould the character 

and future of that child. No matter how we try to hide our behaviour and activity at 

home, 

children can sense it; either it is positive or negative.

The biographies of great human beings, who contributed something in a positive way, 

have always been inspiration to many of us. By reading their trials and tribulations, we 

can all learn 'what needs to be followed' and 'what needs to be eliminated'.

When one is determined and focused to accomplish something worthwhile, many 

obstacles and challenges will arise on the way. As long as the goal is crystal clear and 

mind is determined to get it done, nothing can stop him or her.

I had a privilege to read the books by world famous author Orison Swett Marden. I love all 

his books and one of my favorite quotes from one of his books is: 

"All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a 

goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible."

Mr. Marden had a very humble beginning, even though he was born in America but with 

his hard work, passion, determination and by applying a 'never give up' attitude, he 

became a famous author and even today, his books are being read all over the world in 

many different languages.
Have we ever thought about the thing that makes us think? That is our brain. Scientists 

have proven that our human brain does 20,000 trillion calculations per second. I have 

always thought about it and want to know why people cannot think about something 

better for their life.

This is a very serious question and many of us always make a quick remark: "I am so busy, 

I don't have time to think. Life is crazy, so many bills to pay, health challenges, 

relationship challenges, bad economy..." and the list is endless.

Why waste such a powerful machine, in doing mundane work and not being a dreamer 

(not just a daydreamer), and work hard as well as smart?

Even after all the tremendous blessings, why do people still forget what they can do and 

instead, waste their most valuable life in so many unproductive activities?

These questions always bother me when I see talented young people, with so much 

potential ahead of them in life, just waste their time and energy following the wrong 

crowd or doing the things that make no sense at the end. Many times I've wondered if it 

could be that they didn't have the RIGHT EXAMPLE at home or that they couldn't find and 

follow a true mentor in life.

Many of us already know about Thomas Alva Edison, who invented more than 1,000 useful 

items and is the inventor of the electric light bulb.

He had his famous quote: "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close 

they were to success when they gave up."

Edison never gave up on his dreams and goals.

Marie Curie is the first Scientist to win two Nobel Prizes (In Physics and in Chemistry) 

even though she had been through so many challenges at home, in her childhood, in 

college and even after finishing college and university. She never gave up on her dream 

and invented Radium, the element that was used to treat cancer, known as Curietherapy 

or Radiumtherapy.

She said, "Life is not easy for any of us. We must have perseverance and above all 

confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this 

thing must be attained."

She was told that girls could not continue their education and that they were suppose to 

be housewives, taking care of the family and children. She knew her heart's desire and 

never listened to those negative voices, either from outside sources or from inside. She 

knew what she wanted, in the depth of her heart, and was willing to pay the price as she 

never believed in overnight success or any kind of shortcuts to success.

There is no other scientist who has received a Noble Prize twice. Not only that, she was a 

great role model for her daughter Irene Joliot-Curie, who also received a Nobel Prize.

We have the best example of 'Never Giving Up' in American History:

Abraham Lincoln. Here is the list of his failures before he became the US President in 

1860:

Lost job, 1832

Defeated for legislature, 1832

Failed in business, 1833 

Elected to legislature, 1834 

Sweetheart (Ann Rutledge) died, 1835

Had nervous breakdown, 1836 

Defeated for Speaker, 1838

Defeated for nomination for Congress, 1843

Elected to Congress, 1846

Lost re-nomination, 1848

Rejected for Land Officer, 1849

Defeated for Senate, 1854

Defeated for nomination for Vice-President, 1856 

Again defeated for Senate, 1858


Abraham Lincoln was told many times that he was nobody and could be nobody in life by 

the committee of 'they' (those critics whose names are not found in any history books). 

We have not yet seen nor found the statues erected for the critics who see only the 

negative aspects of everything. It's just the way people look at things, either with 

optimism or pessimism.

Luck is defined as "Preparation meeting Opportunity". Abraham Lincoln believed in 

preparation before aiming at anything BIG and did whatever it took to get the dream 

accomplished. It is recorded in history books that Abraham Lincoln would go to schools on 

weekends and speak from the podium, as if the empty chairs were occupied by real 

people, because he was told that he needed to practice speaking in public.

Hard work as well as smart work, with a positive goal in mind, definitely brings success in 

any area of life.


Life is so good and beautiful. When we look around, there is so much peace, harmony, 

and beauty in nature that should give us a happy heart to appreciate everything. When I 

pause for a moment and think about so many people wasting their life in unproductive 

activities, it gives me so much pain that I wish I could individually sit with that person 

and spend some time telling him/her how valuable life is.

Sometimes I feel like shouting out loud from the tallest building and telling every human 

being, "You are the greatest miracle in the world. There is nothing that you can't achieve 

in life if you believe in it and do not waste your valuable time in destructive things. You 

are a walking, talking miracle. Just sit for few minutes and start counting the blessings 

you already have in your life, starting with: being alive, having eyes to look, a nose to 

breathe, ears to hear, a brain to think and the list goes on."

Here is a beautiful story I read about being remembered when one does not give up and 

accomplishes something useful that benefits humanity forever:

One day, a teacher was teaching a lesson to the class about never giving up and how 

history will remember those who never gave up.

She asked the students: "Did Abraham Lincoln ever give up?"

All the students replied, "No".

She asked them again, "Did Edison ever give up?"

Again the students replied, "No".

After mentioning couple of great heroes' names, she finally asked them, "Did Joe Doe give 

up?"

On that, all the students replied, "Who is Joe Doe?"

She said, "You don't know his name because he gave up."

Before we think there is nothing we can achieve that is useful, let's think twice, may be 

ten times, even a hundred or a thousand times and let's always remember this:
"NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP."