Hazlitt said that the defeat of the Whigs could be read in the shifting
and irresolute countenance of Charles James Fox, and the triumph of the
Tories in Pitt's "aspiring nose." The empires of the Montezumas are
conquered by men who, like Cortez, risk everything in the enterprise and
make retreat impossible by burning their ships behind them.
Hold to the course, though the storms are about you;
Stick to the road where the banner still flies;
Fate and his legions are ready to rout you--
Give 'em both barrels--and aim for their eyes.
Life's not a rose bed, a dream or a bubble,
A living in clover beneath cloudless skies;
And Fate hates a fighter who's looking for trouble,
So give 'im both barrels--and shoot for the eyes.
Fame never comes to the loafers and sitters,
Life's full of knots in a shifting disguise;
Fate only picks on the cowards and quitters,
So give 'em both barrels--and aim for the eyes.
_Grantland Rice_.