My Favorite Poem - If by Rudyard Kipling #poem

 

Posted by Vaughn Sanders

 

If-rudyard-kipling
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 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)

 

Photo from: Women on the Fence

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Inspirational Poem - The Cookie Thief

 

Posted by Vaughn Sanders

 

A woman was waiting at an airport one night
With several long hours before her flight
She hunted for a book in the airport shop
Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop
She was engrossed in her book but happened to see
That the man beside her as bold as could be
Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between
Which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene
She munched cookies and watched the clock
As this gutsy cookie thief diminished her stock
She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by
Thinking "If I wasn't so nice I'd blacken his eye"
With each cookie she took he took one too
And when only one was left she wondered what he'd do
With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh
He took the last cookie and broke it in half
He offered her half as he ate the other
She snatched it from him and thought "Oh brother
This guy has some nerve and he's also rude
Why he didn't even show any gratitude"
She had never known when she had been so galled
And sighed with relief when her flight was called
She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate
Refusing to look back at the thieving ingrate
She boarded the plane and sank in her seat
Then sought her book which was almost complete
As she reached in her baggage she gasped with surprise
There was her bag of cookies in front of her eyes
"If mine are here" she moaned with despair
"Then the others were his and he tried to share"
"Too late to apologize she realized with grief"
That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief
via motivatingquotes.com

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Inspirational Poem - The Test

 

Posted by Vaughn Sanders

 

The test of a man is the fight he makes,

The grit that he daily shows;

The way he stands on his feet and takes

Fate's numerous bumps and blows.

A coward can smile when there's naught to fear,

When nothing his progress bars;

But it takes a man to stand up and cheer

While some other fellow stars.

It isn't the victory, after all

But the fight that a brother makes;

The man who, driven against the wall,

Still stands up erect and takes

The blows of fate with his head held high;

Bleeding, and bruised, and pale,

Is the man who'll win in the by and by,

For he isn't afraid to fail

It' the bumps you get, and the jolts you get,

And the shocks that your courage stands,

The hours of sorrow and vain regret,

The prize that escapes your hands,

That test your mettle and prove your worth;

It isn't the blows you deal,

But the blows you take on the good old earth,

That show if your stuff is real.

via activerain.com

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