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;
… Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it …
Read the full piece by Kipling at Poetry Dot Com.
6 replies on “If— by Rudyard Kipling / Poetry Friday”
Oh, I love this poem!
One of the best poems ever… Thanks for sharing it and reminding us how gorgeous it is.
Have a good weekend Lex!
That’s some pretty verse. Thanks for sharing, and happy Friday!
Nice… and thought provoking. Especially relevant in these times, too, I think.
I have never read this so I’m definitely saving this to re-read. So far I like it but with poetry it’s always nice to re-read a couple of times.
Yes, you can keep coming back to these nuggets of wisdom. 🙂