I had to have this

If
Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you
If you trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too.

If you can wait and not be tired of waiting,
Or being lied to, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating
And don't look too good nor speak 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 have spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop to build them up with worn out tools.

If you can make one heap of your winnings
And risk it all in 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 left in you
Except the will that says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings not lose your common touch.
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count on you but none too much.
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds of distance run
Then yours is the Earth and everything that's in it
And what is more, you will be a Man my son!

This poem is one of the most inspirational that I've read. I shall repeat it once in a while in my blog, every time I need to remind myself of the sort of person I want to be. Despite the slight male chauvinism, I think this poem applies equally to both genders. Don't you think?

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