A crust of bread and a corner to sleep in,
A minute to smile and an hour to weep in,
A pint of joy to a peck of trouble,
And never a laugh, but moans come double;
And that is life!
A crust and a corner that loves makes precious,
With the smile to warm and the tears to refresh us;
And joy seems sweeter when cares come after,
And a moan is the finest of foils for laughter;
And that is life!

Well son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair,
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor-Bare.
But all the time
I's been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
`Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now-
For I's still goin honey,
I's still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

I will take your heart
I will take your soul out of your body
As though I were GOD.
I will not be satisfied
With the touch of your hand
Nor the sweet of your lips alone.
I will take your heart for mine.
I will take your soul.
I will be GOD when it comes to you.

When you're up against a trouble,
Meet it squarely, face to face;
Lift your chin and set your shoulders
Plant your feet and take a brace;
When it's vain to try to dodge it,
Do the best that you can do;
You may fail, but you may conquer,
See It Through!
Black may be the clouds about you
And you future may seem grim,
But don't let your nerve desert you;
Keep yourself in fighting trim.
If the worst is bound to happen,
Spite of all that you can do,
Running from it will not save you,
See It Through!
Even hope may seem but futile
When with troubles you're beset
But remember you are facing
Just what other men have met.
You may fail, but fall still fighting;
Don't give up, what e'er you do
Eyes front, Head high to the finish
See It Through!

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as a pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance,
I have not winced nor cried aloud;
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years,
Finds, and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my faith.
I am the captain of my soul.

An old man going a lone highway
Came at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm vast and wide and steep,
With waters rolling cold and deep.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim,
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.
"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near,
You are wasting your strength with building here.
Your journey will end with the ending day,
You never again will pass this way.
You've crossed the chasm, deep and wide,
Why build you this bridge at eventide?
The builder lifted his old gray head.
"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said.
"There followeth after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
The chasm that was naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim -
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him."

A Gentleman is a person who is clean
Inside and outside...
Who neither looks up to the rich nor down on the poor...
A Gentleman is a person who can lose without squealing, and who can win
Without bragging...
A Gentleman is a person who is
Considerate to women, children and
Old people, who is too brave to lie,
Too generous to cheat and too sensible
To loaf...
A Gentleman is a person who takes his
Share of the world's goods and let
Other people take theirs.

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 imposters 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 lost, 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 have gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which say 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 on you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Your is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a MAN, my son!

I'd rather see a sermon
than to hear one any day.
I'd rather one walk with me
than just to show the way.
The eye is a better pupil
and more willing than the ear.
Advice may be misleading
but examples are always clear.
And the very best of teachers
are the ones who live their creed,
For to see good put into action
is what everybody needs.
I can soon learn to do it
if you let me see it done.
I can watch your hand in motion
but your tongue too fast may run
And the lectures you deliver
may be very fine and true
But I'd rather get my lesson
by observing what you do.
For I may misunderstand you
and the fine advice you give
But there's no misunderstanding
how you act and how you live.