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Life Poems
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| Babe Ruth didn't complain that opposing pitchers tried to strike him out; he swung at the ball till he swatted it for four bases. Ty Cobb didn't complain that whole teams worked wits and muscles overtime to keep him from stealing home; he pitted himself against them all and came galloping or hurdling or sliding in. What others can do anyone can do if they work long enough with a brave enough heart. |
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The World Is Against Me
by Edgar A. Guest
"The world is against me," he said with a sigh.
"Somebody stops every scheme that I try.
The world has me down and it's keeping me there;
I don't get a chance. Oh, the world is unfair!
When a fellow is poor then he can't get a show;
The world is determined to keep him down low."
"What of Abe Lincoln?" I asked. "Would you say
That he was much richer than you are to-day?
He hadn't your chance of making his mark,
And his outlook was often exceedingly dark;
Yet he clung to his purpose with courage most grim
And he got to the top. Was the world against him?
"What of Ben Franklin? I've oft heard it said
That many a time he went hungry to bed.
He started with nothing but courage to climb,
But patiently struggled and waited his time.
He dangled awhile from real poverty's limb,
Yet he got to the top. Was the world against him?
"I could name you a dozen, yes, hundreds, I guess,
Of poor boys who've patiently climbed to success;
All boys who were down and who struggled alone,
Who'd have thought themselves rich if your fortune they'd known;
Yet they rose in the world you're so quick to condemn,
And I'm asking you now, was the world against them?"
~Edgar A. Guest (1881 - 1959)
Originally from England, Guest and his family moved to America in 1891 where he became known as the People's Poet. After he began at the Detroit Free Press as a copy boy and then a reporter, his first poem appeared December 11, 1898. He became a naturalized citizen in 1902. For 40 years, Guest's sentimental and optimistic poems were widely read throughout North America.
It Couldn't Be Done
How Do You Tackle Your Work?
See It Through
The Things That Haven't Been Done Before
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