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,
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;
Kipling is wrong - these attributes are valuable to a man sent out to rule an outpost of the empire, but they form only part of a man's intellectual and emotional makeup. Indeed, one has to suspect a man who cannot be hurt by his friends. There is nothing here about love, sorrow, affection, art and charity - Kipling's are pagan attributes - nothing to do with the Jesus Kipling would claim to worship.
Lofty ideas indeed. But the same poet elsewhere has written that East is East and West is West - And never the twain shall meet...! ! That smacks of inconsistency in your philosophy of life. He should have written thus: - // If you can see East in the West and West in the East / Your's is the Earth and Everyone that's on it! ! ...// I do not respect authors whose ideal enshrined in one piece of writing contradicts with that in another piece of writing. I love the poetry of Paramahansa Yogananda, where you do not find any contradiction at all... Dr Tapan Kumar Pradhan (Land of Upanishads)
This poem reminds me to keep my eyes on heaven even when people around (especially those closes to you) hurt you. Men will let you down sometimes. God is the only one we can trust completely.
This poem is one of the best works of history, telling a person how to behave, act, and how to respect and conduct themself...
An excellent poem that fuels the spirit to soar! ! ! To my Poem List.
This is such a wonderfully narated poem showing just how far some people get ahead of themselves. This not only teaches a great lesson but it sounds great too. This is a poetry classic
This is why there are so many punks in the world! They didn't memorize this poem as my grandfather required. Miss him! !
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10/13/2021 12:26:00 PM # 1.0.0.736
Such a boring poem full of ethics. Although I am devoted to poetry, this poem made me slumber in english class for the first time.