It Can Be Done Part 24

"Impossible," Napoleon is quoted as saying, "is a word found only in the dictionary of fools."

_Can't_ is the worst word that's written or spoken; Doing more harm here than slander and lies; On it is many a strong spirit broken, And with it many a good purpose dies.

It springs from the lips of the thoughtless each morning And robs us of courage we need through the day: It rings in our ears like a timely-sent warning And laughs when we falter and fall by the way.

_Can't_ is the father of feeble endeavor, The parent of terror and half-hearted work; It weakens the efforts of artisans clever, And makes of the toiler an indolent shirk.

It poisons the soul of the man with a vision, It stifles in infancy many a plan; It greets honest toiling with open derision And mocks at the hopes and the dreams of a man.

_Can't_ is a word none should speak without blushing; To utter it should be a symbol of shame; Ambition and courage it daily is crushing; It blights a man's purpose and shortens his aim.

Despise it with all of your hatred of error; Refuse it the lodgment it seeks in your brain; Arm against it as a creature of terror, And all that you dream of you some day shall gain.

_Can't_ is the word that is foe to ambition, An enemy ambushed to shatter your will; Its prey is forever the man with a mission And bows but to courage and patience and skill.

Hate it, with hatred that's deep and undying, For once it is welcomed 'twill break any man; Whatever the goal you are seeking, keep trying And answer this demon by saying: "I _can_."

_Edgar A. Guest._

From "A Heap o' Livin'."

THE STRUGGLE

We all dream of being St. Georges and fighting dragons amid glamor and glory and the applause of the world. But our real fights are mostly commonplace, routine battles, where no great victory is ours at the end of the day. To persist in them requires quiet strength and unfaltering courage.

Did you ever want to take your two bare hands, And choke out of the world your big success?

Beat, torn fists bleeding, pathways rugged, grand, By sheer brute strength and bigness, nothing less?

So at the last, triumphant, battered, strong, You might gaze down on what you choked and beat, And say, "Ah, world, you've wrought to do me wrong; And thus have I accepted my defeat."

Have you ever dreamed of virile deeds, and vast, And then come back from dreams with wobbly knees, To find your way (the braver vision past), By picking meekly at typewriter keys; By bending o'er a ledger, day by day, By some machine-like drudging? No great woe To grapple with. Slow, painful is the way, And still, the bravest fight and conquer so.

_Miriam Teichner._

HOLD FAST

A football coach who told his players that their rivals were too strong for them would be seeking a new position the next year. If the opposing team is formidable, he says so; if his men have their work cut out for them, he admits it; but he mentions these things as incitements to effort. Merely saying of victory that it can be won is among the surest ways of winning it.

When you're nearly drowned in trouble, and the world is dark as ink; When you feel yourself a-sinking 'neath the strain, And you think, "I've got to holler 'Help!'" just take another breath And pretend you've lost your voice--and can't complain!

(That's the idea!) Pretend you've lost your voice and can't complain!

When the future glowers at you like a threatening thunder cloud, Just grit your teeth and bend your head and say: "It's dark and disagreeable and I can't help feeling blue, But there's coming sure as fate a brighter day!"

(Say it slowly!) "But there's coming sure as fate, a brighter day!"

You have bluffed your way through ticklish situations; that I know.

You are looking back on troubles past and gone; Now, turn the tables, and as you have fought and won before, Just BLUFF YOURSELF to keep on holding on!

(Try it once.) Just bluff YOURSELF to keep on--holding on.

Don't worry if the roseate hues of life are faded out, Bend low before the storm and wait awhile.

The pendulum is bound to swing again and you will find That you have not forgotten how to smile.

(That's the truth!) That you have not forgotten how to smile.

_Everard Jack Appleton._

From "The Quiet Courage."

[Ill.u.s.tration: JOHN KENDRICK BANGS]

WILL

Warren Hastings resolved in his boyhood that he would be the owner of the estate known as Daylesford. This was the one great purpose that unified his varied and far-reaching activities. Admire him or not, we must at least praise his pluck in holding to his purpose--a purpose he ultimately attained.

You will be what you will to be; Let failure find its false content In that poor word "environment,"

But spirit scorns it, and is free.

It masters time, it conquers s.p.a.ce, It cowes that boastful trickster Chance, And bids the tyrant Circ.u.mstance Uncrown and fill a servant's place.

The human Will, that force unseen, The offspring of a deathless Soul, Can hew the way to any goal, Though walls of granite intervene.

Be not impatient in delay, But wait as one who understands; When spirit rises and commands The G.o.ds are ready to obey.

The river seeking for the sea Confronts the dam and precipice, Yet knows it cannot fail or miss; _You will be what you will to be!_

_Ella Wheeler Wilc.o.x._

From "Poems of Power."

THE GAME