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The antimetabole:
when the going gets tough, the tough get going
(originally attributed to Joseph P Kennedy – JFK’s father)
….is intended to be interpreted as ….
“When the situation becomes difficult, the strong will become engaged.”
….and not….
“Those who act tough will vacate a situation when it becomes difficult lest they be proven not as tough as they appear to be.”
For all of us who run our own businesses – I salute you as individuals who cannot run away from problems and have to face up to them, push through the pain and provide elegant solutions – no matter how tough.
It’s called leadership – something in which we are sadly lacking in our soon to be independent nation.
Interesting how those who campaigned so hard for that independence have now decided to leave the stage, along with others who simply cannot be arsed any more.
Churchill where are you?
I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once more able to defend our island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty’s Government – every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation. The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength.
Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.
It is said that immediately after giving the speech, Churchill muttered to a colleague, “And we’ll fight them with the butt ends of broken beer bottles because that’s bloody well all we’ve got!”
Know that feeling?