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About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker accepts potential failure but refuses to give in or surrender.
In plain terms
I might fail, but I won't quit.
What can you take from it?
Defiance matters more than outcome.

Where it applies

  • facing defeat
  • choosing honor
  • resisting pressure

Putting it to work

  • refusing to yield
  • maintaining honor
  • persisting

Questions to consider

  • When is pride more important than winning?
  • What does it mean to strike?

Another view

It romanticizes struggle over strategic surrender.

More from John Paul Jones

  1. I have not yet begun to fight!

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  2. Where men of fine feeling are concerned there is seldom misunderstanding.

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  3. I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way.

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