Failure after failure

Some years ago, a young man ran for the legislature in a large state and was badly swamped. He next entered business, failed, and spent seventeen years of his life paying off the debts of a worthless partner. He was in love with a beautiful woman to whom he became engaged, and then she died.

Reentering politics, he ran for Congress and was badly defeated. He then tried to get an appointment to the United States Land Office but failed.

He became a candidate for the United States Senate and was badly defeated. Two years later, he was defeated again.

One failure after another, bad failures, great setbacks. His name was Abraham Lincoln, one of our greatest and most original presidents. –1001 Great Stories & Quotes, R. Kent Hughes (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1998), 147-148.