Thursday, January 12, 2006

IF

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 all 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!

--Rudyard Kipling

10 comments:

  1. this is one of my fav poems. this and 'a psalm of life' by henry wadsworth longfellow

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  2. Anonymous8:35 PM

    Possibly my mom's fave poem. She told me he wrote this for his son.

    Impossible for me to follow this Kipling's advice. In the first paragraph alone, I am only capable of making good on 3 lines

    ..perhaps you have more luck, Medusa? ;)

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  3. Also a poem I like a lot.

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  4. Anonymous2:10 AM

    But why are you posting this poem. I don't like poetry. If you have something to say, just say it! Poetry is pretentious.

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  5. first and foremost, blow it out your ass, "king" leo, and secondly, sometimes you find something that says just what you feel or hold dear. thank you for posting this and pretentiousness seems to be a)reading a blog on your own time, b)making a snap decision about what someone else's blog should be, then c)taking time out of your obviously jammed schedual to comment on a personal site that could take or leave you. the blogosphere is a big place...find what you like and leave the rest of the folks alone.

    have a nice day.

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  6. sorry for being harsh...did i mention i liked the post? :)

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  7. thats a very nice poem. have u heard the song 'father and son' by cat stevens?

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  8. I've always loved this poem.

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  9. thanks for the sentiments ivar, but i guess leo was just expressing his personal sentiments.
    i love this poem, and i dont think, like sol, that i shall ever be able to make it good. but then, one continues to hope.
    :)

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  10. I have a old framed print of this poem. I hung it up in my son's room. Now it is in mine & just sets around w/noone to appreciate it. Glad to see people still do.

    I've always wondered if the Indian people liked the things he wrote about their country or resent it, what do you say?

    Personally kipling got me interested in India when I was young.

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