If...

Okay, reading the Dhammapada kept reminding me of passages from "If...". It's such a beautiful poem. Powerful. It's well-written, lovely. And meaningful. I think it's a great set of ideals to try to live by. I always kind of held it up as my standard. No wonder Buddhism holds so much appeal for me. I've already encountered a lot of the same ideas in this wonderful poem! Anyway, all the frequent reminders and parallels made me want to write out the poem in full. Just because I love it so much! So, here it is:

If...
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,
Yet make allowances for their doubting too.
If you can wait and not be tired of 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 see 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 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 you are gone,
And so hold on when there's 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 world and all that's in it
And, which-is-more, you'll be a man, my son.

-

Is that not one of the most beautiful poems you've ever heard in your life? Absolutely wonderful!

Also, I'd like to apologize for any errors. I'm pretty sure I've got all the words right, but some of the punctuation or line breaks might be off. I memorized this poem years ago. I know the words, not how it looks on the page. Anyway, you can still appreciate the poem, regardless of where the line breaks are. You still understand the meaning, the intent... the beauty.

Alright, well, I just needed to get that out of my system. I'll probably go back to reading and quoting the Dhammapada after this. But I just needed to get that out there.