Today, I picked up a little red book that I'd
had for years and years. And when I opened it,
I found that in the back of it, I had written
some things that I'm wondering now whether I
fully understood what I was writing when I wrote.
the words in this book when I was not more than
16, 17 years of age. I'm sure I could not have
been more than 17 when I wrote these words in
the back of this little book. I shall read them
to you. Whether life grinds a man down or polishes
him, depends on what he's made of. A diamond
cannot be polished without friction, nor man
perfected without trials. And the third quotation
that I wrote in the back of this little book
with these words. Great pilots. are made in rough
waters and deep seas. When I closed the book
an hour ago, I turned back the pages of my life.
Years have come and years have gone since the
day that I wrote those words. And I can bear
witness the fact that every word that I wrote
that day is true. I feel that I am the person
that I am today because of those deep waters.
the sunshine of my life, but the storms, the
winds, the gales. And I'll say to you without
fear of contradiction, it's true. When these
things come into your life, it depends on what
you're made of. Whether you're going to permit
These things to defeat you or whether you're
going to use them for the glory of God. Something
will happen to you. You want to know something?
One of the greatest secrets of this life is to
know how to have real power in one's life. Power
over one's difficulties. Because sooner or later,
You're going to have difficulties. There will
be trouble. There will be storms. The sun isn't
going to shine forever in your life. As surely
as there's sunshine, some rain must fall in every
life. Perhaps not today. Perhaps those storms
have not yet come. But if you are a part of humanity,
they will come. The reaction of the individual,
your reaction, my reaction to difficulty marks
the kind of man that you are and the kind of
person that I am. And it's just like that. Washington
Irving once said, little minds are... tamed and
subdued by misfortune. But great minds rise above
it. And it's true. Little minds, little people,
oh, I'm not talking about in stature. Little
minds, little people are tamed and subdued, defeated.
by misfortune. But great minds, great hearts,
great faith, great people, big people, rise above
it. There was one man who had a great influence
in my father's life. I can truthfully say that
Dr. Downing, a Baptist missionary, was the only
preacher that I... can think of who ever had
any real religious influence in my papa's life.
And Dr. Downing used to say, the storms bring
out the eagles, but the little birds take the
cover. Uh -huh. Old papa used to like that. The
storms. Bring out the eagles. But it's the little
birds who take the cover. I guess that's one
reason why I never wanted to be a little bird.
You know, some of these things make a profound
impression on a youngster's life. Oh, sure. Ah,
I've never forgotten his words. I have never
forgotten these things. I've never forgotten
the great influence that Dr. Downing had on Papa's
life. And the great influence that he had on
my Papa's life carried over to Papa's daughter.
And I never wanted to be one of the little birds
who rushed to cover as soon as the lightning
began to strike and you heard the thunder and
the storms. began in one's life, no. Troubles,
you know, are the best test to a person's character
that I know anything about. There's some folks
that you think you know very well. You are sure
you know all about them. You are definitely sure
that you could trust them under any and all circumstances.
And you say to someone in confidence, I know
all about her. I know her perhaps better than
she knows herself. And yet, you come to find
out that you really do not know that person until
troubles come into that life. And troubles are
the best test to a person's real character. that
I know anything about. When you see how a person
reacts to troubles, when you see how a person
reacts to disappointments, some will pout. Some
that you thought were so big and so strong, you
admired so much, you'll find that suddenly they
become a very small person. They almost shrivel
up before your very eyes. You're disappointed.
Oh, it's easy to smile. As long as the sun is
shining. It's easy to sing when the paycheck
is coming in. It's easy to be happy when everything
is going your way. It's easy to be a big person.
To be a lovely creature. When everything's going
your way, how will that same person react when
the paycheck isn't coming in? When the waters
are deep. When there's an open casket. When a
loved one has been taken. When they do not get
their own way. How will they react under those
circumstances? And it's just like that. Do you
want to know something? One of the mistaken ideas
of this present generation is that Difficulties
are something bad. Something unsocial. We're
not supposed to have difficulties. We're supposed
to close our eyes and our minds to difficulties.
You talk about difficulties these days. And we've
gotten to the place that we do not want to face
facts. That difficulties are something that are
unsocial. That the government should take care
of everybody, feed everybody, get jobs for everybody,
keep everybody. If you don't want to work, you
don't have to work. If you'd rather stay home
than work, then stay home. Just do what you want.
to do. Now remember something, don't get me wrong.
I believe in helping the unfortunate. You know
that I do. Don't you dare misconstrue anything
that I say in this heart -to -heart talk today.
I believe in helping the unfortunate. But the
take -care -of -everybody philosophy is of doubtful
value. We are making a lot of lazy people out
of a lot of Americans who should be busy five
days a week. I was taught to work. Work was the
best cure for a man's sicknesses and ills and
disappointments that there was in the world.
I'll tell you, when I was a kid, and that's been
a long time ago, we didn't have aspirin. We didn't
have Sedrin. We didn't have all these different
kinds of pills. Dear old Dr. Schreiman didn't
know what all these pills and all these pills
that we have today. He didn't know anything about
them. In Concordia, Missouri. And Concordia was
mostly made up of German Lutheran people. If
you got up in the morning and you didn't feel
good, do you want to know what we folk did back
in Concordia, Missouri? We were taught that the
worse that you felt, the harder you worked that
day. Get to work. Get to work fast. Papa used
to say, well, work it off, honey. Just work it
off. And Mama used to say, that's all right,
honey. You just take the scrub brush and you
start scrubbing the sidewalks. It won't be long.
You'll feel better. Well, even the thoughts of
that scrub brush cured me so fast it wasn't even
funny. Isn't it like that? Yeah? One of the greatest
things in the world is self -reliance. The ability
to turn difficulties to advantage. When one has
lost his self -reliance, has lost his confidence
in himself, he has automatically hoisted the
white flag of surrender to defeat. Don't do it.
Don't. Don't you ever in your life ever hoist
the white flag of defeat. Don't you do it. You
grab the old scrub brush and you start scrubbing.
You start grabbing the old spade and you start
spading. You get hold of that pan of dirty dishes
and you start washing. And it's just like that.
Don't ever hoist that white flag of defeat or
anything in the world. Keep fighting. Keep fighting.
Whether life grinds a man down or polishes him
depends on what he's made of. Men and women need
difficulties to teach them to survive. I stress
this point because many have the idea that there's
something wrong with struggle. That there's something
old -fashioned about hard work. Something antisocial
about effort. Something wrong with enterprise.
I don't know what has happened to this generation.
I tell you frankly, it's something that's in
the atmosphere. Literally, we've gotten to the
place where this generation feels like there's
something wrong with struggle. There's something
wrong with hard work. There's something wrong
with you. If you work hard, 8, 9, 10, 12 hours
a day, they look at you and you think that you're
of another generation. That literally you're
a little off on your rocker when you say that
you work 14 hours a day. Under their breath,
they say, he's nuts. It's a little crazy. The
other day, I was studying a picture that I saw
of Abraham Lincoln, and I stood wondering to
myself why Lincoln was born. To save the Union?
To do away with slavery? Certainly. Yes, this
man's life, in my opinion, was the greatest life
ever lived in the United States of America. Perhaps
the greatest reason that he was set among us
was to show Americans through all history that
they can rise above all... difficulties and make
men of themselves by trusting God. You don't
have to be defeated. You don't have to go down
and defeat. You were born for a purpose. You
have a work to do. The word of God says unto
every man his work. Why were you born? Why were
you put into this world? There's a reason. The
American people must never get to the point where
they are unwilling to go out and wrestle with
life. Don't you as an individual ever get to
the point whether you are a teenager whether
you are in your 20s, your 30s. You may even be
at the age where they have put you on the retired
list. But don't you ever, whatever age you are,
get to the place where you are unwilling to go
out and wrestle with life. Look old difficulty
right in the face. Walk up to it and say, I'm
glad to see you. I'm glad to see you. And then
add, God sent you to make a stronger person out
of me. God sent you to make a stronger, a better
person out of me right now. Stop. Pray for a
proper philosophy of difficulty. If you're suffering
pain, if you're in difficulty, if you haven't
enough money, if the job is gone, or maybe you
don't even have a job, get down on your knees.
and ask God Almighty to help you. But don't you
dare raise the white flag of defeat. Don't you
do it. No man, no woman, no person needs ever
go down in defeat unless he consents to that
defeat. I can turn back the pages in my life.
And there's certain milestones I can put my finger
on them. I know exactly the day, the hour when
I could have gone down in defeat. I know the
places. I know the times. I know the cities.
I know the happenings. I know the crisis in my
life. When I could have put up that white flag
of defeat. I could have gone down and have been
defeated by my own self -pity. I've gone through
the storms as the reason I can talk to you the
way I am talking to you this hour. I know what
I'm talking about. I wouldn't be where I am this
very hour had it not been for the disappointments,
had it not been for the storms. But I'd made
up my mind I wasn't going to be one of those
little birds that ran for shelter the first time
the wind started to blow. I could not have done
it myself. But when I made the effort, God was
there to help me. And when you pray, you get
power. Because you get into a stream of power,
his power. And I assure you that there is a stream
of power flowing across this universe. And as
you make contact with it, God's wonderful power,
he'll give you the victory, he'll give you the
healing. You can feel it, you can know it. It
has a great lifting force. All that you have
to do is yield yourself to God. Ask Him to take
care of you. Ask Him to take care of those things
in your life that are bigger than you. And you'll
soon find yourself being lifted above all obstacles,
all storms, all difficulties. I realize that
many people may not... have had much contact
with the dynamic concept of the Christian faith.
I wish you would try to understand because your
very life may depend on this. If you'll start
to pray, if you'll start to read the Bible, if
you'll start to yield yourself to the Lord Jesus
Christ, I tell you as surely as there's a God
on his throne. that the most incredible, astounding
things will happen to you. You'll gain amazing
victories over obstacles in a way that you never
dreamed possible. And remember, whether life
grinds a man down or polishes him, depends on
what he is made of.