At age 9, his mother died.
Age 22, he started a business.... that failed.
Age 23, ran for state legislature... he lost.
That same year, he lost his job, and failed to get into law school.
Age 24, he borrowed money from a friend to start a new business. Within months he was bankrupt, and spent the next SEVENTEEN years paying off this debt.
Age 25, ran for state legislature... and won.
Age 26, his fiancée died, sending him into a deep depression...ending in a nervous breakdown that kept him in bed for six months.
Age 29, ran for speaker of the state legislature... and lost.
Age 31, ran for elector... lost again.
Age 34, ran for Congress... laughed out of the election.
Age 35, ran for Congress again. Got elected finally
Age 37, ran for re-election... blown out of the election (although incumbents win 90+% of the time).
At 40, sought the job of land officer in his home state... soundly rejected.
Five long years later, he had the nerve to run for the US Senate...and got trounced.
After losing, he said, “The path was worn & slippery. My foot slipped from under me,
knocking the other out of the way, but I recovered and said to myself,
'It's a slip and not a fall.'"
Age 47, sought his party's vice-presidential nomination: trounced again.
Age 49, ran for US Senate again... and was again soundly defeated.
Age 51, ran for, get this, President of the United States!! Talk about temerity!!
Consider this quote from our 11-time loser:
The sense of obligation to continue is present in all of us. A duty to strive is the duty of us all. I felt a call to that duty.
What a strong word; it says so much. Within it resides one of the three single greatest powers you have at your instant disposal. That's the power used by the man you just read about... President Abraham Lincoln.
So, if some grass died this summer and you spend much of your time counting "warts on the course" remember Abe.
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