My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or

When Hank Aaron, the quiet titan of the diamond, declared, “My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging,” he gave voice to the creed that carried him through adversity and into immortality. These words are not only about baseball; they are about life itself. For in them we hear the wisdom of endurance, the courage to act even in despair, and the faith that persistence, more than talent alone, brings triumph.

The origin of this saying lies in Aaron’s own journey. Born into poverty in the segregated South, he rose through the harsh realities of racism and struggle, carrying with him not only the weight of his bat, but the weight of a people’s hopes. As he pursued Babe Ruth’s home run record, he endured death threats and hateful jeers, yet he never surrendered to fear. He did not let anger consume him, nor despair paralyze him. His answer was always the same: step into the box, raise the bat, and keep swinging.

The ancients would have honored such a creed. The Stoics of Greece and Rome taught that when the storms of life rise, one must not retreat but remain steadfast, performing one’s duty with courage. Just as the archer continues to draw his bow though the wind howls against him, or the sailor grips the oar though the sea rages, so too did Aaron find strength not in retreat, but in action. His motto carries this eternal truth: that resilience is not passive endurance, but active striving—swinging again and again, even when the odds seem cruel.

Consider the night of April 8, 1974, when Aaron hit his 715th home run, surpassing Babe Ruth. The journey to that moment had been filled with trials—hatred, fear, exhaustion—but Aaron never stopped. Each game, each at-bat, he kept swinging. And when the ball soared into history, it was not only a triumph of skill but of perseverance. His victory belonged not just to himself, but to all who had learned from him that persistence can overcome even the darkest opposition.

The lesson is clear: when faced with hardship, we must keep swinging. Life will bring slumps—times of failure, pain, or discouragement. It will bring trials off the field—loss, conflict, and burden. In these moments, it is easy to surrender, to lower the bat and walk away. But Aaron’s wisdom teaches that the only true defeat is to stop trying. Victory may not come at once, but if we continue to act, to strive, to swing, we place ourselves in the path of possibility.

What then must we do? First, face adversity with courage, refusing to let hardship silence our efforts. Second, act with persistence—each day, swing anew, no matter how many times we have missed before. Third, carry hope within us, knowing that every swing brings us closer to the breakthrough, and that perseverance itself shapes us into something greater than victory alone can provide.

Thus, Hank Aaron’s words endure as a guiding flame: “Keep swinging.” They call us to embrace life not as a series of perfect victories, but as a field of constant striving. Let us not fear the slumps, the struggles, or the shadows, but rise again and again to take our swing. For in the end, greatness is not only in the home runs we hit, but in the courage to keep swinging when the world gives us every reason to stop.