If by Rudyard Kipling

30/04/13

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If by Rudyard Kipling

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(30 December 1865 18 January 1936 / Bombay)

#27 on top 500 poets

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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;

William Carlos Williams

#7
on top 500 Poems

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

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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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:

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Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

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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: Tuesday, December 31, 2002

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If by Rudyard Kipling

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Celia Waters (4/17/2013 9:48:00 PM)

You know, it's pretty swell how Kipling contradicts himself. Although it is nice to find consistency in ideas,
I personally can muster even greater respect for thinkers who openly contradict themselves.
Why? Because humanity is inconsistent by nature. We contradict ourselves all the time; not because we
don't really believe anything, but because our beliefs are always in the process of being refined. Our
perspectives are always changing, therefore our opinions are always being shaped and reshaped.
Emerson believed similarly: Speak what you think today in hard words and tomorrow speak what
tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict everything you said today. He also says that a
foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. And after all, with consistency a great soul has simply
nothing to do.
Another man who thought in a contradictory fashion was Gandhi. He stated, The opinions I have formed
today and the conclusions I have arrived at are not final. I may change them tomorrow.
Perhaps Kipling was pretty alright after all. He was a great thinker, and he was very human.
Dr Tapan Kumar Pradhan (4/10/2013 7:31:00 AM)
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)
Andrea Scarpa (4/8/2013 6:09:00 PM)
So much more than just saying be a man, a lesson in life and humbleness
Walterrean Salley (4/1/2013 1:54:00 PM)
This is one of my all-timr favorite poems. Thanks to Rudyard Kipling for leaving such beautiful legacy.
Dilpreet Dosanjh (3/25/2013 4:59:00 PM)
Go to my poem I'm 13 I'm interested in poetry it's nice, nice poem bro!
Khathutshelo Prince Musie (2/24/2013 11:50:00 PM)
Wowww! What a nice Poem, thanks to my Man Mr John Mukhaliphe who referred me to this website. It
was a great piece of writing I never read for a very long-time. By Khathutshelo Prince Musie (South Africa)
www.kha2.wozaonline.co.za
Jawad Al Harake (2/23/2013 1:36:00 PM)
One of the best poems I've ever read! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! JUST AMAZING! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Cynthia Buhain-Baello (2/17/2013 9:13:00 PM)
Very strong poem that is still relevant today and it has been a determined cry against political corruption
in our day, and it was used as a wake-up call at my country's People Power Revolution of 1986.
Patricia Grantham (1/28/2013 10:02:00 AM)
I really love this poem, down to earth and no cover up thanks
Rinki Nandy (1/26/2013 6:41:00 AM)
If......I have nothing more to add, its all said.
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If by Rudyard Kipling

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