It was given by Sir Winston Churchill more than 50 years ago. Now I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t tell you who gave the speech when I graduated from Duke University almost that long ago, much less what they said. I just remember that I was terrified to go out into the world. We were a nation at war (some things never change, do they?) and I had a new set of gold Second Lieutenant bars in the U.S. Air Force. But graduation speeches are supposed to inspire you to greatness, right? Well, the one I’m telling you about today did.

First of all, let me give credit to Matt Furey (one of my marketing mentors) for this story. When the speech was given, the Old Bulldog (Churchill) was invited back to Cambridge University to speak to the graduates. No longer the British Prime Minister, he was an old man still chomping on that cigar. He went up to the podium, took off his bowler hat, took the cigar out of his mouth, and began. “Never give up!”, he said. Then Churchill paused to let the words sink in. He went on: “NEVER give up!” Another pause. The room was deathly quiet now. One more time, the old man (shouting now), said “NEVER GIVE UP!” With that, he put the cigar back in his mouth, put his hat on, and walked off the stage. Only nine words. But those who heard them never forgot that speech for the rest of their lives. And I have a feeling that most of them never gave up on anything,, either.

In our world today, many ride the horse of defeat. We forget the stubborn pluck of men like Churchill, who refused to surrender when his nation was under attack day and night and the situation looked hopeless. We give up on jobs, on marriages, on friendships, and worst of all, on ourselves. We allow our dreams to be stolen. And so, we give up. Well, here’s what I believe: the Creator of heaven and earth, the Lord God of the Universe, put that dream inside of you. And you dare not let it die.

Don’t die with your music still inside you. NEVER GIVE UP!

Dr. Dick

P.S. If you liked this post, please comment. I love honest feedback.