"If" By Rudyard Kipling 575.4
It’s a pity that so many great poems turn into commercialized clichés because, when we’ve heard them before, we don’t concentrate hard enough to listen to the messages.
A good example is the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling. It includes some of the best advice a parent could give a child:
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 wornout 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!
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
Comments
I learned this poem when I was in school soooooooo many years ago. Still to this day it brings me to tears when I read it and think of the message. Thanks for reminding me.
Things are going on in our family at this time that are very difficult to deal with. It is possible these issues will tear our family apart. I don't have the confidence or belief that our family is strong enough to hold it together.
I needed some inspiration, so this poem couldn't have come into my hands at a better time. Thanks so much.
Posted by: L. J. | July 17, 2008 6:09 PM
There was a news story a couple of years back about one of our civic leaders who challenged his high school age son and several of his friends to memorize this poem during their senior year before graduation. The ones who could recite it from memory by graduation would receive $1000 cash from this man. Of course all the young men accepted the challenge (for the money). It was amazing to watch the news story and listen to those men say in their own words how that poem impacted virtually every aspect of their lives and see how they had indeed become young MEN.
It impacted me enough to commit to doing the same for my two boys when the time comes.
Posted by: Doug P | July 18, 2008 2:20 PM
I gave each of my children a framed copy of this poem when they were in their teens. I first encountered it when I was about 12 years old and my parents were in the middle of a nasty divorce. They were losing their heads and blaming it on me, so the poem grabbed me. The principles have helped guide me through many a challenging time over the years. There are far too many whose only measure of success is to count those who approve or disapprove.
Posted by: Tim Nichols | July 25, 2008 7:24 AM
Possibly the greatest 'lifemanship' poem ever written!
Posted by: Philip Carr | August 13, 2008 5:19 AM
I learned the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling when I was in seventh grade. I later wrote about its meaning in college and now I use it in my classroom.
I teach fifth grade and it has been memorized by my language-arts classes for the past 33 years. It is a poem that they memorize and then it becomes a part of their lives. It's the poem that lets them see the light when it is the darkest time. I believe it is the most inspirational poem anyone could learn. It has been a part of my life for over forty years!
Posted by: Dave Adomiak | September 20, 2008 11:53 PM
This poem truly touched my soul. As a parent of a 12-year-old male African American, I was moved and encouraged to have him read the poem. I framed it and placed it in a place where we see it daily.
I do believe children need both parents, but we do not live in a world where God instruction is cared out, so I step in and use all the tools necessary to develop a Godly character in my son. Thanks again.
Posted by: Helen Franklin | October 17, 2008 10:35 AM