founder of naked leader
Lincoln
Lincoln
Time to Read – 3 Minutes
And so it was that in 1982 young Abraham Lincoln lost his job. And the Discouragement Fraternity sneered and said unto him: “if you’re so smart, why ain’t you successful?” And Abe, intimidated, hung his head low and crawled back under yon rock from whence he came.
And so it was that later in that same year Abe ran for the Legislature of Illinois and was badly defeated. And the Discouragement Fraternity sneered and said unto him: “if you’re so smart, why ain’t you successful?” And Abe, intimidated, hung his head low and crawled back under yon rock from whence he came.
And so it was that this pattern continued – tried his hand at business in 1833 and went broke, ran for Speaker in 1838 and lost, was overwhelmingly defeated in a bid for nomination to Congress in 1843, rejected for appointment to the U.S. Land Office in 1849, soundly beaten for U.S Senate seat in 1854, defeated for nomination for Vice-President in 1856 – and after each failure, the Discouragement Fraternity, always more than happy to be of help, sneered and said unto him: “if you’re so smart, why ain’t you successful?” And each time Abe, intimidated, hung his head low and crawled back under yon rock from whence he came.
Then in 1858, after once again being defeated for U.S Senate, and after once again enduring the Discouragement Fraternity sneering and saying unto him: “if you’re so smart, why ain’t you successful?” , a funny thing happened on the way back to yon rock from whence he came.
Abe thought for a moment, scratched his head, then finally came to the conclusion that intimidators must have more fun than intimidatees.
Thus concluding, he looked up at the Discouragement Fraternity and replied: “Stick thy finger up thy noses and go fly thee a kite.”
…And lo and behold, Abe, the ex-intimidatee, became President…and saved the Union.
And the members of the Discouragement Fraternity – fingers in noses and kites in hands – said unto Abe: “Bravo! We always knew thou would be successful.”
…Whereupon Abe displayed a gentle smile and walked quietly away.
(From Winning through Intimidation, by Robert J. Ringer)
With persistence, love and best wishes David X
2 small points that I noticed ……. I believe the date at the beginning (1982) is not right. And he ran for the Legislature not Legislate of Illinois !! But the message was well – received. Thank you!
Thank you Svetlana for your post…. these have been corrected now!!! kind regards and best wishes from the NL team
Thank you Svetlana yes the date was wrong (corrected for web-site version) and thank you to you and all who emailed – and it was totally my fault, no-one else’s. David
Didnt realise he was around in 1982?
Kind Regards
Dave
Thanks David!! interesting to imagine what he would have become had he of been!
Would the people who have shaped our world, done so in a differemnt era?
kind regards and best wishes from the NL team
Yes David your comment and other similar emails have raised an intriguing question – how would Lincoln have handled the recession, for example? Food for thought and possible serendipity here – thanks David
That is an amazing story of perseverance and determination.
the story is very inspiring.Perseverance commands success.
Love that, it’s like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. There’s nothing like getting your own back.
‘Big mistake’. What a line. Surely one of the best in film history.
The best of all was The Shawshank Redemption.
Now THAT is getting your own back and being able to walk away smugly. Wonderful.
Thanks David. Really does show that perseverance is key
Great film. Great post, as usual.
What a way to become president…wonderful.
It a similar way, I became boss of my own company.
If at first you don’t succeed…
It shows you what can be done through sheer bloody mindedness to get on and achieve.
It takes a special person to do that.
Smart is not always successful.
Common sense counts for so much.
And tenacity!
Great tale, love an ending that is a surprise to all and a real story of vengeance, in a nice way.
Determination to get one over on somebody else to make a point is what that story is about.
Superb.
That’s not really the point of the story but it’s a valiant reason for Lincoln to succeed.
The date has been changed back to the original wrong date for the purposes of David’s latest Naked Leader Weekly – 544 – Monday 23 December 2013