Never give in and never give up.

Hear, O child of perseverance, the ringing exhortation of Hubert H. Humphrey, who declared with the voice of courage: “Never give in and never give up.” These words, though simple, are carved in the bedrock of human triumph. They speak to the eternal battle between weakness and strength, despair and hope, surrender and endurance. For life presses upon every man and woman storms of hardship, and the measure of the soul is not whether they are struck down, but whether they rise again, refusing to yield.

To never give in is to deny defeat its satisfaction. It is to stand against pressure—be it from enemies, from circumstance, or from the weight of one’s own fears—and to remain unbowed. Giving in is not merely losing; it is surrendering the heart before the battle is done. Humphrey, who fought for justice, equality, and the dignity of all men, knew well that resistance would meet him at every turn. Yet he believed that the righteous cause must never be abandoned, no matter the cost. His words remind us that to give in is to betray not only oneself, but also the generations yet unborn who depend upon our courage.

To never give up is the twin command. It is persistence, the daily rising, the refusal to abandon the climb though the mountain stretches endlessly above. History does not remember those who began with enthusiasm but quit with excuses; it remembers those who endured. Greatness is seldom born of a single victory; it is the fruit of countless struggles, defeats, and resurrections. The path of life is long, but the crown belongs only to those who do not quit the race.

Consider the life of Winston Churchill, who, in the darkest days of the Second World War, stood before his people and the world. Britain lay in peril, cities in ruins, enemies at the gate. Yet Churchill’s defiance became the spirit of a nation. “We shall never surrender,” he thundered, echoing the same truth as Humphrey’s words. It was not superior weapons nor numbers that carried Britain through—it was the refusal to give in, the refusal to give up. And that spirit turned despair into eventual victory.

So too in the life of Helen Keller, born blind and deaf, her world dark and silent. Many thought her existence doomed to obscurity, yet she refused despair. Guided by patient teachers, she broke through the walls of her limitations, learning to speak, to write, to inspire. Her life became a beacon to the disabled and to all mankind, proving that obstacles yield to the one who does not yield. Truly, her spirit embodied Humphrey’s cry: never give in and never give up.

The meaning is plain: the one who never yields may be wounded, delayed, or mocked, but they cannot be defeated. For every setback is but another step in the march toward victory. The one who endures will outlast the storms, while the quitter perishes long before the battle is truly lost. To persevere is to declare to fate itself: “You may strike me, but you shall not break me.”

O listener, let this truth burn in your heart. When hardship comes—and it shall—remember that your power lies in persistence. Do not give in to fear, temptation, or despair. Do not give up on your vision, your calling, your dream. Rise again each time you fall, and walk forward though the ground trembles beneath you. In this way, you will find that the world itself yields at last to the one who refuses to yield.

Thus the teaching of Hubert Humphrey endures: “Never give in and never give up.” Make it your shield in adversity and your banner in struggle. Live it, and you will walk the road of the indomitable, the eternal victors, whose names echo across time because they refused surrender.