FAVORITE POEMS AND QUOTATIONS of JOHN WORLDPEACE

DARE GREATLY
by Theodore Roosevelt

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strieves valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worth cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievementl and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

THE EAGLE
by Lord Alfred Tennyson

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
and like a thunderbolt he falls.

TWO ROADS
by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence;
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

INVICTUS
by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the 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 or 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 fate;
I am the captain of my soul.


POLONIUS' ADVICE TO LAERTES
by William Shakespeare

There, - my blessing with you!
And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character. -- Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Not any unproportions'd thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull they palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatched, unfledged comrade.
Beware of entrance to a quarrel; but being in,
Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice:
Take each man's censure, but reserve they judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy:
For the apparel oft proclaims the man.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be,
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

IF
by Rudyard Kipling

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 allowances 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 to wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you think you can think - and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet 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 lose, 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 are gone,
and so hold on when there is nothing in you
except the Will which says to them: "Hold On!"

If you can walk with crowds and keep your virtue,
or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foe 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.

NOT IN VAIN
by Emily Dickinson

If I can stop on heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain:
If I can ease on life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

DESIDERATA
by Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and agressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is: many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less that the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. and whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive God to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.

BLOWING IN THE WIND
by Bob Dylan

How many roads must a man walk down
before they call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
before she sleeps in the sand?
How many times must the canon balls fly
before they're forever banned?
The answer my friend is blowing in the wind.
The answer is blowing in the wind.
How many years must a mountain exist
before it is washed to the sea?
How many years can some people exist
before they are allowed to be free?
How many times a can a man turn his head
and pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer my friend is blowing in the wind.
The answer is blowing in the wind.
How many times must a man look up
before he can see the sky?
How many ears must one man have
before he can hear people cry?
How many deaths with it take 'til he knows
that too many people have died?
The answer my friend is blowing in the wind.
The answer is blowing in the wind.

IMAGINE
by John Lennon

Imagine there's no Heaven.
It's easy if you try.
No hell below us,
above us only sky.
Imagine all the people
living for today.
Imagine there are no countries.
It isn't hard to do;
nothing to kill or die for
and no religion too.
Imagine all the people
living life in peace.
You may say I'm a dreamer
but I'm not the only one.
I hope some day you'll join us
and the world will be as one.
Imagine no possessions.
I wonder if you can.
No need for greed or hunger there,
a brotherhood of man.
Imagine all the people
sharing all the world.
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I am not the only one.
I hope some day you'll join us
and the world will live as one.

POINT OF LIGHT
by Randy Travis

There is a point, when you cannot walk away,
when you have to stand up straight and tall
and mean the words you say.
There is a point you must decide
just to do it just because its right.
That's when you become a point of light.
There is a darkness that everyone must face.
It wants to take what's good and fair and lay it all to waste.
And that darkness covers everything in sight
until it meets a single point of light.

All it take's is a point of light,
a ray of hope is the darkest night.
If you see what's wrong and you try to make it right,
you will be a point of light.

There are heros whose names we never hear,
a dedicated army of quiet volunteers;
reaching out to feed the hungry,
reaching out to save the land,
reaching out to help their fellow man.

There are dreamers who are making dreams come true,
taking time to teach the children there is nothing they can't do.
Giving shelter to the homeless,
giving hope to those without,
isn't that what this land is all about?

One by one from the mountains to the sea,
points of light are calling out to you and me.

All it takes is a point of light,
a ray of hope in the darkest night.

If you see what's wrong
and you try to make it right,
you will be a point of light.
If you see what's wrong
and you try to make it right,
you will be a point of light.