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Rudyard Kipling
#21
on top 500 Poets
Rudyard Kipling
(30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936 / Bombay)
550 poems of Rudyard Kipling
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  If


# 8
on top 500 Poems

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9.1 /10
(580 votes)



  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 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

Submitted Date Tuesday, December 31, 2002



Read poems about / on: loss, trust, son, truth, dream, lost, hate, running, friend

<< prev. poem Poems by Rudyard Kipling : 166 / 543 next poem >>
 
  Comments about this poem (If by Rudyard Kipling )
 
Sagar Shelar (2/11/2012 5:37:00 AM)
3 person liked.
0 person did not like.
Great poem. This poem gives me courage fighting against depression.
Susan Bertram (2/10/2012 12:08:00 PM)
3 person liked.
0 person did not like.
This is a great poem! I found it while searching for postings of If. A group of If enthusiasts have started a website devoted to the ideals of the poem. It would be great if you could link to us at www.allthingsif.org underneath the poem so that those who enjoyed reading it could see more...thanks for your consideration!
Susan
susan.bertram@allthingsif.org
Sriram Ramesh (2/9/2012 12:05:00 AM)
1 person liked.
0 person did not like.
Insightful to this day.
B T (2/7/2012 10:50:00 AM)
4 person liked.
3 person did not like.
This Poem was mentioned in the Power of One. I got online and read it. One of the first poems I have understood with every part of me.
B T (2/7/2012 10:50:00 AM)
6 person liked.
1 person did not like.
This Poem was mentioned in the Power of One. I got online and read it. One of the first poems I have understood with every part of me.
Manonton Dalan (2/2/2012 8:41:00 PM)
10 person liked.
10 person did not like.
they should have made this one as reading material in high school; i'm sure it
will help a lots of people.
Dave Dravuschak (1/31/2012 3:40:00 PM)
18 person liked.
4 person did not like.
As an ex Marine this poem always meant something to me. No excuses. Do what needs to be done. Take responsibility for yourself. 20 years ago I read this poem to both of my sons and explained what it meant. I then presented each a framed calligraphic copy to hang in their room as a constant reminder of what it means to be a man. They are now 30 some years old, living on their won and each has grown into the kind of person that anyone could be proud of, and I am.
Jacob Prudent (1/27/2012 9:44:00 PM)
16 person liked.
7 person did not like.
Your good, Realy Good. An original style and genuine emotion. Just what I needed
Allyson Heller (1/25/2012 12:19:00 AM)
22 person liked.
10 person did not like.
There's no way Maya Angelou or Pablo Neruda have written anything better than this. They're trendy, but this is the real thing!
Jerry Buckley (1/24/2012 1:19:00 PM)
20 person liked.
3 person did not like.
Now this is the real thing. Every school boy should commit this to memory. If you want a tatoo. Why not tatoo this on your heart?
 

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