WHEN by ETFnerd

[ETFnerd]

This morning my friend empeg9000 posted one of my favorite poems in the blogs. Some of you may know Kipling's famous IF poem... it goes like this...

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!

- Rudyard Kipling

of course >>> i <<< can presume that i can improve it and make it betterer... mine goes like this...

WHEN

When you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

When you can trust yourself when all men doubt you

But make allowance for their doubting too,

When 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:

When you can dream–and not make dreams your master,

When you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;

When you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

When 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:

When 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;

When 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!”

When you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch,

When neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

When all men count with you, but none too much,

When 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 [Wo]Man, my [daughter and] son!

- ETFnerd

i think i have more faith in humanity than Kipling does... and more gender awareness... hahaha... so there you go Kip... i fixed it for ya... hahaha... i ETF'd the f*** out of that one...

[empeg9000]

Nice work!

[Missy]

HaHa i like it :applause::applause::applause:

[cracked_belle]

bahaha, nice improvements! XD

I have a friend who actually has all of "If" memorized. O_o

[LRB]

Awesome!

[Tom Kenobi]

Standing. Ovation.