Richard Nixon Foundation on Nostr: Those first four years in San Clemente were profoundly difficult and painful. I ...

Those first four years in San Clemente were profoundly difficult and painful. I succeeded in recovering physically, spiritually, and mentally from the cataclysmic defeat I suffered in 1974. As I look back over those years in the wilderness, I would say that I was sustained by always bearing in mind three principles:

• Put the past behind you. Analyze and understand the reasons for your defeat, but do not become obsessed with what was lost. Think instead about what is left to do.

• Do not let your critics get to you. Remember that they win only if they divert you into fighting them rather than driving toward your goals.

• Devote your time to a goal larger than yourself. Avoid the temptation of living simply for pleasure or striving only to leave a larger estate.

Richard Nixon. In The Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat, and Renewal