Monday, May 18, 2009

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,
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 all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath 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!

18 comments:

Nite Garden said...

Blue, red, yellow, orange - all are beautiful..

The word 'if' sounds so perfect but the fact is it's only an if... and if only if...

the anThropologist said...

Yeah. If only it can be happened.....

Nite Garden said...

I scrolled down as I reading this poem to find if there is any if which I have within me. Alas! none which I have.

All the if written by Kipling are too good to be true.. Yet they are all positive behaviours which we need to instil within ourselves, at least one if..

Personally, this poem is beautiful and the most important thing is it invites me to think further abt my attitude n behaviour.

Those who have all these if would be an angel..

Blogger said...
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Blogger said...

**I scrolled down as I reading this poem to find if there is any if which I have within me. Alas! none which I have.

of coz la kak nite. dis poem is for guy. u are girl.

the anThropologist said...

Well it depends on the interpretation of the readers. Anyway it is only if....

Nite Garden said...

I agree every individual would have different interpretation.

If we just omit the last line, then this poem is for everyone i guess..

Another half of me is trying to be as strong as this man.. There is hope in every "if"..

I have this kind of syndrome - i see major things in minor things. I think the best person to elaborate on this is the anthropologist :D

the anThropologist said...

It's sociological imagination!!!! :D

Nite Garden said...

Betul meh? sama yer see minor things in major things and see major things in minor things?

How to eliminate this syndrome then?

Hey, i'm still waiting for ur entry - sociological imagination.

the anThropologist said...

Basically macam tue lah. Cumanyer belum jumpa lagi any book yang bley support that argument. That's why tak buat laie entry pasal tue :P

Nite Garden said...

Ok.... will wait patiently :D

the anThropologist said...

Hajah Patient :D

Nite Garden said...

Cheq mmg patient of time hehehehe

the anThropologist said...

Iya ka :D

Rehan Who said...

one of my all time fave :)

the anThropologist said...

Monkibizniz:
Got it from a very close friend of mine when I was about to complete the writing up of my dissertation. It was so sweet :D

Nite Garden said...

Kencing manis nnti huahuahua

the anThropologist said...

Minumlah jus mengkudu :D