IF...
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
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
sixsty 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
