Never Surrender

At what point do you know you’re beaten? When is the right time to wave the white flag? The stoics and romantics amongst us would like to say never. But it’s hard to know what you would actually do in the heat of battle.

Today’s quote is from such an occasion.

During the Revolutionary War, Captain John Paul Jones was wreaking havoc across the British Isles. Sailing a repurposed, old French merchant ship named the Bonhomme Richard, Captain Jones had captured 16 British vessels during the summer of 1779. The Americans looked poised to sink and capture anything that floated, until one day they encountered the HMS Serapis.

The HMS Serapis was everything the old French ship was not. It was new, wicked fast, and armed with 50 shiny cannons. The two ships began to exchange fire off the shore of England on September 23rd. Mayhem ensued onboard the Richard. Their cannons were destroyed, the British nearly boarded their ship, and they began to take on water. To the British, the crew of the Richard were all but defeated and they called out if they wanted to surrender. Captain John Paul Jones met their inquiry with fury:

“I have not yet begun to fight”

With the renewed resolve from their captain, the Americans steered their ship close to the HMS Serapis and began to fight. Only one ship returned to port that day, it was the Serapis. But the captain was an American who refused to quit even when he was all but beaten.

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