By Guillaume Apollinaire.
Come to the edge, he said.
They said: We are afraid.
Come to the edge, he said.
They came. He pushed them and they flew.
And Rudyard Kipling; 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 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!
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Thanks hon!
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:o)
It is a stonking good pram and no mistake. We used to have to know it by heart at school - long forgotten, alas.
And happy birthday! :-)
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I've never seen the first one. It's cool. "If" has always been one of my favourites. We found a hanging of it once and gave it to our son. =>}
Happy birthday again! *g*
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Thanks. Again!
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I didn't know it before. It's a good one. =>}
You're welcome! *g*
PS!
Did you by any chance see my b'day greeting to you today? Just wondering. =>}
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Many happy returns...
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Howzat - it's your birthday and you're giving us the presents! Best wishes to you.
If...
Thanks so much for the birthday wishes! I'm just trying to gee myself back to work after the revels. heh (and best wishes to you, too!)