"We are beaten, we will make no bones about it; but we are not too badly beaten still to fight"
About this Quote
Defeat is acknowledged without flinching, yet the will to continue hardens rather than dissolves. Larkin fuses candor and defiance: "We are beaten, we will make no bones about it; but we are not too badly beaten still to fight". The idiom "make no bones about it" signals a refusal to sweeten failure with euphemism. It is a rallying cry built on realism, not denial. By naming the setback outright, he clears the fog of false hope and replaces it with sober courage. The second clause shifts the emotional register from concession to resolve, insisting that being down is not the same as being finished.
This stance fits Larkin, the Irish trade union leader who helped spearhead the industrial militancy of the early 20th century. During and after the 1913 Dublin Lockout, workers endured hunger, blacklisting, and violent suppression. Larkin’s speeches often had to hold two truths at once: the immediate losses were real and grievous; the longer struggle for dignity and fair labor conditions demanded persistence. His declaration parses defeat into degrees, separating tactical loss from strategic collapse. It keeps agency alive by defining the moment not as an ending but as a hinge to regrouping, organizing, and returning to the field.
The line also cultivates morale through shared identity. "We" binds leader and rank-and-file, refusing the safer distance of triumphalist rhetoric. By refusing to hide from reality, he models a resilient political psychology where clarity is the precondition for courage. The rhythm of the sentence mirrors the movement it advocates: a step back, a breath, and a stepping forward. Struggle is not romanticized, but neither is it surrendered. Larkin’s words insist that the measure of a cause is not the absence of defeat, but the capacity to absorb it, learn, and fight again with eyes open.
This stance fits Larkin, the Irish trade union leader who helped spearhead the industrial militancy of the early 20th century. During and after the 1913 Dublin Lockout, workers endured hunger, blacklisting, and violent suppression. Larkin’s speeches often had to hold two truths at once: the immediate losses were real and grievous; the longer struggle for dignity and fair labor conditions demanded persistence. His declaration parses defeat into degrees, separating tactical loss from strategic collapse. It keeps agency alive by defining the moment not as an ending but as a hinge to regrouping, organizing, and returning to the field.
The line also cultivates morale through shared identity. "We" binds leader and rank-and-file, refusing the safer distance of triumphalist rhetoric. By refusing to hide from reality, he models a resilient political psychology where clarity is the precondition for courage. The rhythm of the sentence mirrors the movement it advocates: a step back, a breath, and a stepping forward. Struggle is not romanticized, but neither is it surrendered. Larkin’s words insist that the measure of a cause is not the absence of defeat, but the capacity to absorb it, learn, and fight again with eyes open.
Quote Details
| Topic | Never Give Up |
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