Rudyard Kipling’s “IF” 

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs

Self-control

and blaming it on you;

Peace

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you

Trust, confidence

but make allowances for their doubting too;

Humility

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting;

Patience

Or being lied about

Honesty

don’t deal in lies;

Integrity

Or being hated

Love, Mercy

don’t give way to hating;

Forgiveness

And yet don’t look too good nor talk too wise.

Humility

If you can dream

Vision/Planning

and not make dreams your master;

Action

If you can think

Vision/Planning

and not make thoughts your aim;

Action

If you can meet with triumph and disaster

Faith

and treat those two impostors just the same;

Trust

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Steadfastness

twisted by knaves

Self-control

to make a trap for fools;

Peace of mind

Or watch the things you gave your life to broken

Faith

and stoop and pick them up

Perseverance

with worn out tools.

Resilience

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

Faith

and risk them on

Trust

one turn of pitch and toss;

Boldness

And lose, and start again at your beginnings,

Perseverance

and never breath a word about your loss;

Hard work

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

Steadfastness

to serve your turn long after they are gone;

Perseverance

And so hold on when there is nothing in you,

Steadfastness

except the will which says to them, “Hold on!”

Perseverance

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Love, Humility

or walk with kings

Flexibility

nor lose the common touch;

Mercy

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

Faith

If all men count with you but none too much;

Confidence

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

Wisdom

with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run;

Stewardship

Then yours is the earth and everything that’s in it,

Stewardship

and which is more, you’ll be a man, my son!

Leadership, Success

Biblical underpinnings of “IF”

(Compiled by Rodolfo O. Reyes ’78)

 Love (strong affection, desire or devotion)

“Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39)

 Peace (state of calm; freedom from strife or discord; harmony in personal relationship)

“A heart of peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones” (Proverbs 14:30)

 Faith (reliance; loyalty; complete trust in God or someone else)

“… if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you”  (Matthew 17:20-21)

 Forgiveness/Mercy (forgiving; compassionate)

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36)

 Patience (endurance; hopeful forbearance)

“A patient man has great understanding, but a quick tempered man displays folly” (Proverbs 14:29)

 Humility (the state of being humble; lack of pride)

“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom”  (Proverbs 11:2)

 Honesty (displaying truthfulness; not deceptive or fraudulent)

“Do not use dishonest standards . . . Use honest scales and honest weights . . .”  (Leviticus 19:35-36)

 Integrity (honesty, w/o compromise or corruption)

“The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.” (Proverbs 10:9)

 Trust (to place one’s confidence in; to hope)

“When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust, I will not be afraid. What can mortal men do to me? ” (Psalm 56:3-4)

 Self-Control (restraint exercised over one’s impulses, desires or emotions; temperance)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22)

 Perseverance (Patient endurance of hardship; persisting in a state or enterprise in spite of difficulties and discouragement)

“. . . But we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3-4)

 Steadfastness (unchanging; dependable)

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26:3)

 Vision/Planning (a scheme for making or doing something)

“Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up food in the summer.” (Proverbs 30:25)

 Action (the process of doing)

“. . . Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:17)

 CONCLUSION

 Greatness

“ . . .  Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all; for even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:43-44)

 Success/Failure

“God will give to each person according to what he has done.  To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.  But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” (Romans 2:6-8)

Rudyard Kipling’s “IF” – annotated by Rodolfo O. Reyes ‘78