If

By Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was an English author, poet, and journalist best known for his works set in British-ruled India, including “The Jungle Book,” “Kim,” and the poem “If- “. He was the first English-language writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907. Kipling’s writings often reflect themes of imperialism, adventure, and the complexities of British colonial rule. His storytelling prowess and memorable characters have made his works enduring classics.

The poem “If” offers pieces of advice on how to live a virtuous and resilient life. Written in 1895 and published in 1910, it presents a father’s advice to his son on maintaining integrity, self-control, and perseverance through life’s challenges. The poem emphasizes the virtues of patience, humility, and courage, urging the reader to stay balanced in the face of triumph and disaster alike. It is heavily inspired by ancient Greek philosophy that encourages people to live uninfluenced by pleasure or pain. The poem is celebrated for its inspirational message and remains one of Kipling’s most famous and widely quoted works.

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 wornout 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!

Summary

If you can stay calm when everyone around you is losing their head and holding you responsible for their panic; if you can be confident when no one trusts you while still considering other people’s concerns; if you can be patient; if you can avoid lying even when lie about you; if you cannot hate anyone even when they hate you; if you can be virtuous in these ways, but still not think too highly of yourself.

If you can have big dreams without being a servant to them; if you can analyze things but do not get lost in analysis; if you can take your victory and loss with the same composure and treat them as temporary; if your sincere words are twisted by the cunning to deceive the simple; or you can watch the work of your lifetime spoiled and you get right back and start rebuilding it with your worn-out tools;

If you can risk everything you have achieved on a single gamble website aw8 and lose it and start again from zero without complaining; if you can push yourself to total mental and physical exhaustion and still keep going when you have nothing left to save your willpower to support and withstand

If you can be with masses without losing your own character, or among the kings and still be humble, if neither your enemies nor your friends can hurt you, if you treat everyone with respect without idolizing anyone; if you can fill every second of the minute with your full effort, then you will own the world and everything in it- and more than that you will become a true man, my son.