{"id":1632,"date":"2022-02-17T23:40:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-18T09:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/?p=1632"},"modified":"2022-02-17T23:40:00","modified_gmt":"2022-02-18T09:40:00","slug":"if","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/?p=1632","title":{"rendered":"If"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I grew up in Singapore and went to English schools which were under the British system. We had the privilege of learning about great British poets and authors. We all have our favorite. Here is one of mine by Rudyard Kipling<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don\u2019t give way to hating,
    And yet don\u2019t look too good, nor talk too wise:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you can dream\u2014and not make dreams your master;   
    If you can think\u2014and 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\u2019ve spoken
    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
    And stoop and build \u2019em up with worn-out tools:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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: \u2018Hold on!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   
    Or walk with Kings\u2014nor 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\u2019 worth of distance run,   
Yours is the Earth and everything that\u2019s in it,   
    And\u2014which is more\u2014you\u2019ll be a Man, my son!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I grew up in Singapore and went to English schools which were under the British system. We had the privilege of learning about great British poets and authors. We all have our favorite. Here is one of mine by Rudyard Kipling. IF If you can keep your head when all about you       Are losing theirs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[391,103,393,392,390],"class_list":["post-1632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-british","tag-choon-james","tag-if","tag-poets","tag-rudyard-kipling"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1632"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1633,"href":"http:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1632\/revisions\/1633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}