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Life Poems
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| Read inspiring life poems such as this one by Rudyard Kipling entitled If where the central idea of this poem is that success comes from self-control and a true sense of the values of things. Don't loose heart because of doubts that may surface or because of opposition from others, but do your best see the grounds for both sides. Be careful not to go to extremes where you are deceived into thinking either triumph or disaster final; consider things wisely--and push on. |
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 imposters 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!
~Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
Kipling, an English author and poet, is regarded as a major "innovator in the art of the short story". Born in Bombay, India, Kipling is best known for the very popular children’s classics: The Jungle Book
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