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 worn-out 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 breathe 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!
I remember having to memorize this poem in the...7th or 8th grade and thinking, "Man, that's a good one!" but the significance of it weighs heavily now that I've grown older. I'm actually choking up right now and if someone asked me to recite it, I'd probably burst into tears and leave that same person bewildered and confused. Sigh. I'm a tad emotional at times.
So...how do you do it? Keep your head when everyone is blaming you? Or dream but not let dreams rule you? Or meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat them both the same?
Is it a learning process? Will the lesson ever be fully learned? Is Life the cruel and heartless Teacher?
Hmmm...I wonder what my "grade" would be right now. Yeah, I'm probably failing. lol Who knows?
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 worn-out 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 breathe 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!
I remember having to memorize this poem in the...7th or 8th grade and thinking, "Man, that's a good one!" but the significance of it weighs heavily now that I've grown older. I'm actually choking up right now and if someone asked me to recite it, I'd probably burst into tears and leave that same person bewildered and confused. Sigh. I'm a tad emotional at times.
So...how do you do it? Keep your head when everyone is blaming you? Or dream but not let dreams rule you? Or meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat them both the same?
Is it a learning process? Will the lesson ever be fully learned? Is Life the cruel and heartless Teacher?
Hmmm...I wonder what my "grade" would be right now. Yeah, I'm probably failing. lol Who knows?
