Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Wishing

Do you wish the world were better?
     Let me tell you what to do:
Set a watch upon your actions,
     Keep them always straight and true;
Rid your mind of selfish motives;
     Let your thoughts be clean and high.
You can make a little Eden
     Of the sphere you occupy.
 
Do you wish the world were wiser?
     Well, suppose you make a start,
By accumulating wisdom
     In the scrapbook of your heart:
Do not waste one page on folly;
     Live to learn, and learn to live.
If you want to give men knowledge
     You must get it, ere you give.
 
Do you wish the world were happy?
     Then remember day by day
Just to scatter seeds of kindness
     As you pass along the way;
For the pleasures of the many
     May be ofttimes traced to one,
As the hand that plants an acorn
     Shelters armies from the sun.
Liked or faved by...
Other works by Ella Wheeler Wilcox...



Top