Never Give Up
The President of the United States is Barack Hussein Obama. If you need further motivation to never give up than this, you might as well quit, right now. The power of perseverance can never be underestimated, especially in these uncertain and tumultuous times. My standing here before is a testament to this fact. Successfully fighting through the toughest periods will ultimately pay off in the long run in the knowledge and wisdom that will be gained through those trying experiences. This essay will highlight why we should base our actions upon the foundational belief of never giving up.
It will conclude with a practical discussion of how this ethos can be applied in everyday life. To begin, why not give up? Is the effort to persevere even worth it? To ask these questions in the face of despair one must have a sense of purpose, even if that purpose is not yet clear. To be purpose driven means that you have a vision for the future that you are willing to work toward. If you hold the key to the future in your hand, the ignition will spark and you have the power to put your vehicle into active participation.
The easy things in life are the ones we can least afford. It is the tough choices that character is based upon. In the moment of truth our character reveals itself through our actions. In other words, this is to say that to be stagnant is to be docile: to give up is may be the working definition of stagnancy. Most people have known somebody who has decided to give up, whether at work, in marriage, or at life. Most times these people have a negative outlook on life and have given in to a devastating nihilism.
On the other hand, there are numerous examples of success stories of people who have been faced with adversity and have risen above it due their conviction to never give up. A famous example of this is Michael Jordan. He was cut from his high school junior varsity basketball team. He could have agreed with the coach who cut him and went on to other activities. Instead, he worked as hard as he possibly could to attain his dream of becoming a professional basketball player. His belief is that ‘Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up.
Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. ’ Michael Jordan went on to become the greatest athlete of his generation and a global icon thanks in large part to this conviction to never give up. This leads to a question of which choices to make and which decisions to follow through with. As a completely different example of how this ethos can be applied take the case of Hitler. Young Adolf failed at his original dream of becoming a world-renowned artist. We all know how that turned out for history. History begs the past to answer for the current situation.
A worthwhile task would be to question the motive behind the decisions we choose to make and how these choices affect not only our own personal lives, but more importantly how they affect the world and people around us. To give up? To give in? To quit? Not to quit? Speaking to these questions, Winston Churchill famously remarked, “Never give in! Never give in! Never, never, never, never – in nothing great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. ” In his view the motivations that we base our decisions upon should reflect the ‘convictions of honor and good sense.
’ This is always easier said than done. Most of the time the decisions we are faced with in our everyday lives are not clear cut issues; they are not black or white but a vast array of shades of gray. In addition, there are as many ‘convictions of honor and good sense’ as there are people to decide what these terms mean according to their perspectives. This does not mean that just because a person made a decision that they believed to be in harmony with Winston Churchill’s belief is in actuality a good decision.
Relativism can lead to dangerous consequences, as in the case of Adolf Hitler, who acted according to his belief in the superiority of the Aryan Nation over the Jewish population. To never give up has become a sort of cliche, being capitalized by marketers and advertisers throughout the world to sell products that embody this spirit. Although it is seemingly a positive message about the power of perseverance in the face of all obstacles, as in the case of Michael Jordan, we have also seen how this message has been applied to situations of historic evil.
Never give up. It does have certain ring to it. When I hear the words, ‘never give up,’ I immediately see images of Michael Jordan, Barack Obama, and even of Adolf Hitler. Never give up is a loaded phrase with a multitude of personal associations that can mean many different things depending upon a person’s perspective and context. I will close with a quote from President Obama, one that sums of the type of belief in never giving up that produces the right kind of progress, “It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun.
Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today. ” TOPIC: `Never Give Up` SPECIFIC PURPOSE: (To inform the audience about how this topic has multiple meanings. ) THEMATIC STATEMENT: (Never give up is a loaded phrase with a multitude of personal associations that can mean many different things depending upon a person’s perspective and context. ) INTRODUCTION: A. (Grab attention with example of Barack Obama) B. (My standing here before is a testament to this fact. )
(Brief overview of paper’s course of action) TRANSITION (To begin, why not give up? Is the effort to persevere even worth it? ) BODY OF SPEECH A. 1st Main Point (To be purpose driven means that you have a vision for the future that you are willing to work toward. ) 1. Sub-point/support for main point (Those that are willing to work for their goals versus those who are willing to give up. ) 2. Additional Support (Negative and nihilistic attitudes lead to pessimism and giving up. ) B. 2nd Main Point (Two examples of embodying never give up) 1. Subpoint (Michael Jordan used it to his benefit. )
Additional Support (Adolf Hitler used it to the detriment of history. ) 3. Additional Support (Winston Churchill quote) C. 3rd Main Point (Never give up has multiple meanings) 1. Subpoint (Explication of Michael Jordan) 2. Additional Support (Explication of Hitler) TRANSITION (Although it is seemingly a positive message about the power of perseverance in the face of all obstacles, as in the case of Michael Jordan, we have also seen how this message has been applied to situations of historic evil. ) CONCLUSION A. Summarize important parts or points of Speech B. Quote by Obama as the Big Powerful Finish.
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