Leaving the shows of things to the Lord of show
And Prince o' the power of the air.
--Robert Browning.
Tender-handed stroke a nettle,
And it stings you for your pains;
Grasp it like a man of mettle,
And it soft as silk remains.
--Aaron Hill (1685-1750).
On the red rampart's slippery swell,
With heart that beat a charge, he fell
Foeward, as fits a man;
But the high soul burns on to light men's feet
Where death for noble ends makes dying sweet.
--James Russell Lowell.
I do not ask that Thou shalt front the fray.
And drive the warring foeman from my sight:
I only ask, O Lord, by night, by day,
Strength for the fight!
No coward soul is mine,
No trembler in the world's storm-troubled sphere;
I see Heaven's glories shine,
And faith shines equal, arming me from fear.
--Emily Bronte.
You will find that luck
Is only pluck
To try things over and over;
Patience and skill,
Courage and will,
Are the four leaves of luck's clover.
The chivalry
That dares the right and disregards alike
The yea and nay o' the world.
--Robert Browning.
God has his best things for the few
Who dare to stand the test;
He has his second choice for those
Who will not have his best.
Dare to be true; nothing can need a lie;
A fault which needs it most grows two thereby.
--George Herbert.
INDEPENDENCE
MANHOOD, FIRMNESS, EARNESTNESS, RESOLUTION
WANTED
God give us men! A time like this demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands;
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor--men who will not lie.
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking;
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty and in private thinking;
For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds,
Their large professions and their little deeds,
Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,
Wrong rules the land, and waiting Justice sleeps.
--Josiah Gilbert Holland.
TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE
By thine own soul's law learn to live,
And if men thwart thee take no heed;
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