If

I read this poem a long time ago. But, from time to time it comes to mind. I didn't remember it word for word, line by line, but it speaks to me. It speaks to all of us, as humans. The poem, obviously directed at a young man, can be taken to heart by each of us. IF we can stay grounded, regardless of what goes on around us we will prove our worth, we'll prove that we are men/women. There are no biblical references, no Confucious sayings, nothing religious or out of this world. Just common sense thinking from a British author who I studied my senior year in high school. And, even though this guy may not be the keeper of our universe, or a mystical figure- there is something about this poem that just seems right....read and see if you agree.


If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

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