The poem
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 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 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!
Kipling's poem IF for his daughter I found the one for his son but not for his daughter.Please e-mail thank you
This poem is very confusing but it gives a very GREAT message
This poem is not confusing at all it is just a guidline for living a full and meaningfull life, also it produces something inside that tells you to not to be the same as everyone else to make your mark for all the good things that you do, not the bad ones and never give up the things that are most important to you
I think the poem is trying to explain if you can do all these that he lists, then you can live life to the fullest.
Its freakin awesome it the coolest
that poem was awesome i think the writer whould get 100,000,000 dollars hes so cool man i loved his poem. he should wright another one. oh wait he cant he died in 1936 what a shame oh well. rudyard if you can hear me in heaven you are the MAN!!!
In keeping with the other comments: It sounds like occidental Zen.
it is a wonderful poem i have ever came across. it brings so many meanings to life and whoever who can follow the 14 advises, i really salute them !!! i am trying to but very hard !!! i hope to receive more and more meaningful poems like this one. so far, i have only found this! so it is going to be my best one!!!
My father, John died in 1971, he sent a copy of this poem to his newly born nephew, John, whom he never met. It is as valid and useful today as then & when it was written. Everyone, male & female could use it as a lifelong guide.
I have read the works of many authors. I have written many myself and have been published. This is the greates poem I have have ever read. As a coach and leader of young men and women, this poem allow me to approach every challenge they have in their young lives and give them a reason to move on beyond what they are feeling. I agree with the young man who said he should write more. Better, yet. I challenge that young man to become the next Rudyard Kipling and write the next best poem.
Kepe the Faith!
Rudyard was a Mason. "From Darkness to the Light" His light stills shines and shows the way to a better day.
My grandfather wrote me out this poem for my birthday. 3 weeks later he died, he asked me to emorise it and I did. To me it means so much and is the one of the only things that kept me going throughthat difficult period
When I see all the young people of the world struggling to understand it, and angry at the injustice of it all, I would ask them to read this poem, digest it, and try to live to its ideals. 'If' deserves to be the anthem of the young.
If is a wonderful poem!! When I read this for the first time I was very sad.... After reading I felt like I finaly know what is really important!! I like mainly this part: 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.. I love it!!
How I do love this poem! My Father truly believed and lived by it. He was a kind and giving MAN....I have printed this poem to pass it to my Grandchildren, and Pray I can help them understand it's meaning!!!!!!!!!!
im witing this comment since i read other commnets here .i must say this poem has something wonderful that enduce people think differently once they read it.im working on this poem at my university and found a little difficult to get its meaning b/c Eng lish is the second language.whatever, rudyard Kipling is a big Man, i think.
I have been looking for Kiplings "If for girls" poem.
lines like
"If you can love silk and satin but not dispise calico and jean.
If you can ply a saw and use a hammer, do a man's work when the need occurs."
Dear Kipling,
It falls to you to show us how to survive with the blackness and the responsibility.
The central core of our ministry has to be love & respect...
We thank you so much for this poem. You are phenomenon !
I don't cry....., January 19th 2006. Today I attended the funeral mass of a friend. His younger brother introduced Kipling's - IF as one of his brothers (my friends) favorite poems and shared it with the attending mourners. Now I do cry.....Thank you Rudyard for the cry and thank you GM for the lasting friendship of all friendships...
i could not see any suitable or convenient comment for this poem but i can see these advises for all youn people : it is about controling your situations and think correctly and wisley and also emphasizing on lying and detesting others which we must not do that at all not because they will hate us;but it is immoral and eventually you will hate yourself.It talks about dreams and how we have to control them and not forgetting reality
My 16 yr.old son was asked recently to recite a few lines of this poem at a beautillion. I had memorized this poem over 20yrs ago. Hearing it being recited was like visiting an old friend.This poem to me is about resiliency. It is the best. Rudy still Rules!!!!
I find this poem a very meaningful poem for living in todays world, young people should be exposed to it so they can apply its lessons & advise.
This poem makes me how to reconstruct my personality and how to deal with others .
I learned this poem in primary school in Jamaica West Indies. I was reciting a verse of this poem to some of my colleagues at work last week and they were amazed. Some people have never heard of this author but they loved the words. Can you imagine my utter delight when I went to my son's graduation at Wagner College today and heard it read by one of the doctor's who was honored?. Thanks a lot Kipling for a poem that has touched my heart as a child and now soothes my soul as an adult.
I know there is a version of Rudyard Kipling's If for girls but I'm unable to locate a copy. Hallmark cards often has both the boy's version and the girl's version but traveling up the east coast I have been to a number of their stores but have found only one with the boy's version. I feel this is a very meaningful poem that should be read by all graduating seniors. Any help in locating the girl's version would be appreciated.
I'm a 15 yr. old high school student, but I felt this poem to stand out during a state test, so I remembered the author and title. At first, it struck me as a religious poem and, as I am not religious, it deterred me a bit, but how amazed I was by the flow. I went home and reread it online, realizing a person does not have to be religious to live in the morals set forth in this work. Also I realize that it is a great piece to reflect on time and again in life. It is an inspiration to be a better person and a guideline for being happy. :)
"An 'If' for Girls" with apologies to Rudyard Kipling was NOT written by him. It was written by a lady. I am trying to locate it once more. Oh, the graduation "If" is not the same poem at all, it is a horrible rip-off by a less talented poet, very fitting for baccalaurate services.
Elizabeth Lincoln Otis wrote "An 'If' for Girls" - an outstanding poem many of you are looking for. Gale Baker Stanton wrote "'If' for Girls" the horrible rip-off.
My father has referred to this poem's wisdom several times throughout my life. I never realized what an impact it made in his life, until I read it for myself, and felt it's moral inspiration. I see the principles my father taught me laced all throughout this piece of work. I try to read this poem daily, just hoping that I will absorb all of the wisdom that it contains.
It's amazing. If has inspired many poets to create spin-offs which, in my opinion, is a great thing.
There's "If for Girls" by J.P. McEvoy, Anthor "If for Girls" by Gale Baker Staton, "An If for Girls" by Elizabeth Lincoln Otis, and of course Kipling's "If". Truly amazing.
I have a framed copy of IF FOR GIRLS by Rudyard Kipling that my mother received as a high school graduation gift in 1937.
this poem is beautiful. It is as if by reading through each stanza you've experienced the scenarios themselves. An impossinble Human being, the type the everyone would wish to be
If
If by Rudyard Kipling is my favorite poem. When I graduated from high school in 1963, I was sent a graduation card with "If For Girls", which I also loved. I am trying to find this version--it is much better than the ones I've been able to locate on the web. I'm still looking. Anyone have any info on the one that begins, "If you can be a girl and glory in it, because it is the place for you to fill; If you can be a lady every minute, yet take all sporting chances with a will...."? Thanks for any info you may have re this version of If for Girls
IF for Girls
Like Alice, I too am looking for the graduation card I received in 1971 featuring the "If for Girls" poem. I have contacted customer service for Hallmark, but oddly, the service rep could not provide me with any information about whether the card was still in production. Should anyone received information about "If for Girls" and "If for Boys" graduation cards please let me know. Thanks so much.
If
I read Rudyard Kipling’s If for the first time when I was a Kid. It remained vivid in my memory during my school years. Then it went sleeping deep down, overshadowed by Pink Floyd’s music. Then years later it surfaced again upon the disappearance of two people whom I cherished most in life. Survival was at stake. Among other things, I reread If with new (not fresh) eyes, while listening to Pink Floyd’s “echoes” in…
Read the whole commentI read Rudyard Kipling’s If for the first time when I was a Kid. It remained vivid in my memory during my school years. Then it went sleeping deep down, overshadowed by Pink Floyd’s music. Then years later it surfaced again upon the disappearance of two people whom I cherished most in life. Survival was at stake. Among other things, I reread If with new (not fresh) eyes, while listening to Pink Floyd’s “echoes” in the background. Why “echoes”? This masterpiece was composed when Syd Barret left turbulently creating a feeling of disconnection in the group. I superposed if on Pink Floyd’s lyrics. How soothing and inspiring, they helped me find a balanced approach to life. Poetry and music…. and tears, they know no frontiers.
IF
I had a beautifully framed poem of "IF you can be a Girl" hanging in my room from the time I was two until my senior year of high school. I tried desparately to immulate my life after that poem. I thought of the girl as the perfect girl, and I had big steps to follow.This poem has been in my memory since the time I was two years old and I can still recite it. That is meaningful Pattie Bajorek