Don’t begrudge by Edgar Guest

Don’t begrudge by Edgar Guest

You don't begrudge the labor when the roses start to bloom;

You don't recall the dreary days that won you their perfume;

You don't recall a single care

You spent upon the garden there;

And all the toil

Of tilling soil

Is quite forgot the day the first

Pink rosebuds into beauty burst.

You don't begrudge the trials grim when joy has come to you;

You don't recall the dreary days when all your skies are blue;

And though you've trod a weary mile

The ache of it was all worth while;

And all the stings

And bitter flings

Are wiped away upon the day

Success comes dancing down the way.

The dull road by Edgar Guest

The dull road by Edgar Guest

It's the dull road that leads to the gay road;

The practice that leads to success;

The work road that leads to the play road;

It is trouble that breeds happiness.

It's the hard work and merciless grinding

That purchases glory and fame;

It's repeatedly doing, nor minding

The drudgery drear of the game.

It's the passing up glamour or pleasure

For the sake of the skill we may gain,

And in giving up comfort or leisure

For the joy that we hope to attain.

It's the hard road of trying and learning,

Of toiling, uncheered and alone,

That wins us the prizes worth earning,

And leads to goals we would own.

Better to try by Edgar Guest

Better to try by Edgar Guest

'Tis better to have tried in vain,

Sincerely striving for a goal,

Than to have lived upon the plain

An idle and a timid soul.

'Tis better to have fought and spent

Your courage, missing all applause,

Then to have lived in smug content

And never ventured for a cause.

For he who tires and fails may be

The founder of a better day;

Though never his the victory,

From him shall others learn the way.

Lickin' often does a fellow good by Edgar Guest

Lickin' often does a fellow good by Edgar Guest

I'm not the chap to say that failure's sweet,

Nor tell a chap to laugh when things go wrong;

I know it hurts to have to take defeat

An' no one likes to lose before a throng;

It isn't very pleasant not to win

When you have done the very best you could;

But if you're down, get up an' buckle in-

A lickin' often does a fellow good.

I've seen some chaps who never knew their power

Until somebody knocked 'em to the floor;

I've known men who discovered in an hour

A courage they had never known before,

I've seen 'em rise from failure to the top

By doin' things they hadn't understood

Before the day disaster made 'em drop-

A lickin' often does a fellow good.

Success is not the teacher, wise an' true,

That gruff old failure is, remember you;

She's much too apt to make a fool of you,

Which isn't true of blows that knock you flat.

Hard knocks are painful things an' hard to bear,

An' most of us would dodge 'em if we could;

There's something mighty broadening in care-

A lickin' often does a fellow good.