"If..." by Rudyard Kipling
This poem is really about being a grown up, which apparently doesn’t have much to do with age. George Washington was a “grown up” at 14, but we have 26 year olds who aren’t “grown up?” What is maturity? Maybe it doesn’t have so much to do with age as with the way you respond to what life throws at you. It’s hard to see how one can develop a persevering character without the attributes of maturity mentioned in this poem. Likewise, it makes clear that achieving real maturity takes perseverance.
Already one of my favorites! I'm glad you found this one, too. Contrast this to a recent editorial I read talking about there being so many American "Peter Pan" men...
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