never, never, never give up

I think David Brooks makes a good point about Ted Kennedy's career: that after a lot of personal trauma and failures, Kennedy kept slogging it out in the Senate. After losing all three of his older brothers--two to assasinations--, after running from the scene in Chappaquiddick, and getting caught boozing around in Palm Beach, a natural thing to do would have been to step out of public life, retire to live on his own. Whether it was the thirst for limelight or a commitment to public service (probably both), something compelled him to keep doing the hard work of passing legislation that furthered his ideals. And most commentators say that his best work has been done since the '91 Palm Beach fiasco, i.e., after he was 59 years old. I think the broader lesson here is that to do good work in any field, it takes a long time--you've got to slog it out for awhile and stay persistent. Substantial achievements take time and sustained effort.