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"If"
If by Rudyard Kipling narrated by Tom O' Bedlam.
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’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and 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’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
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: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor 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’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
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’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and 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’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
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: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor 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’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
Audiobook
First published January 1, 1895
10 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
Rudyard Kipling
7,178 books3,675 followersJoseph Rudyard Kipling was a journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist.
Kipling's works of fiction include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901), and many short stories, including The Man Who Would Be King (1888). His poems include Mandalay (1890), Gunga Din (1890), The Gods of the Copybook Headings (1919), The White Man's Burden (1899), and If— (1910). He is regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story; his children's books are classics of children's literature; and one critic described his work as exhibiting "a versatile and luminous narrative gift".
Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the United Kingdom, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Henry James said: "Kipling strikes me personally as the most complete man of genius (as distinct from fine intelligence) that I have ever known." In 1907, at the age of 41, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first English-language writer to receive the prize, and its youngest recipient to date. He was also sounded out for the British Poet Laureateship and on several occasions for a knighthood, both of which he declined.
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907 "in consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the creations of this world-famous author."
Kipling kept writing until the early 1930s, but at a slower pace and with much less success than before. On the night of 12 January 1936, Kipling suffered a haemorrhage in his small intestine. He underwent surgery, but died less than a week later on 18 January 1936 at the age of 70 of a perforated duodenal ulcer. Kipling's death had in fact previously been incorrectly announced in a magazine, to which he wrote, "I've just read that I am dead. Don't forget to delete me from your list of subscribers."
Kipling's works of fiction include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901), and many short stories, including The Man Who Would Be King (1888). His poems include Mandalay (1890), Gunga Din (1890), The Gods of the Copybook Headings (1919), The White Man's Burden (1899), and If— (1910). He is regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story; his children's books are classics of children's literature; and one critic described his work as exhibiting "a versatile and luminous narrative gift".
Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the United Kingdom, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Henry James said: "Kipling strikes me personally as the most complete man of genius (as distinct from fine intelligence) that I have ever known." In 1907, at the age of 41, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first English-language writer to receive the prize, and its youngest recipient to date. He was also sounded out for the British Poet Laureateship and on several occasions for a knighthood, both of which he declined.
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907 "in consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the creations of this world-famous author."
Kipling kept writing until the early 1930s, but at a slower pace and with much less success than before. On the night of 12 January 1936, Kipling suffered a haemorrhage in his small intestine. He underwent surgery, but died less than a week later on 18 January 1936 at the age of 70 of a perforated duodenal ulcer. Kipling's death had in fact previously been incorrectly announced in a magazine, to which he wrote, "I've just read that I am dead. Don't forget to delete me from your list of subscribers."
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
May 22, 2020
I have arranged my takeaway thoughts into a haiku:
"More than just the earth,
To the meek, the mild, the kind,
All esteem is owed."
"More than just the earth,
To the meek, the mild, the kind,
All esteem is owed."
October 2, 2023
When I requested this at the library, I didn't realize it would be illustrated. This is one of Kipling's more famous poems giving life advise to his son. It was very nice.
July 10, 2018
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
June 23, 2022
4.2
This is one of my roomie's favourite poems and IDK about you. But, engaging with others' fav works is a lovely pastime. We sat and listened to Oh, the Places You'll Go!, rage against the dying of the light, two paths and it was just so nice.
This is a lovely poem indeed
This is one of my roomie's favourite poems and IDK about you. But, engaging with others' fav works is a lovely pastime. We sat and listened to Oh, the Places You'll Go!, rage against the dying of the light, two paths and it was just so nice.
This is a lovely poem indeed
October 27, 2020
I love this poem so much♥
May 19, 2023
I'm not a huge poetry fan but I love this poem. It's an amazing piece.
April 29, 2020
If there is anything in this world greater than this poem, I'd like to challenge it..
June 29, 2025
If by Rudyard Kipling – one of the most popular poems and one of Realini’s Top 100 Favorite Poems http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u...
10 out of 10
There are a few ways to interpret, enjoy or contest If and one hilarious perspective belongs to a stand-up comedian, albeit I do not know his name alas, but you can have his take, or at least what I could make of it…the ingenious performer looks at the lines ‘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…’ and has an original conclusion and says that you should have your head examined, however different he will phrase it.
And the stand-up artist does have a point, for there is so much lunacy in the world that ‘being so sure of one self’ can be both reason to cheer – and we could refer to the ultimate expert on the matter, Nathaniel Branden, author of the life-changing The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/06/s... - and a sign of madness, as exemplified by the MAGA crowd in the Divided States of America, once the symbol of greatness, power, intrepid spirit, the Man that If refers to if you will, and now a land where we can all find our demise, for if they fail, we are all doomed to live in a Chinese Matrix, perhaps with some Russian characteristics…
There is the insurrectionist that takes down the Capitol Hill and does not doubt that he ‘can trust himself’ when in fact he should and see a doctor soon, then follow the medication and since that will not work (‘this is mean man’, as one line of dialogue in Payback, with Mel Gibson and maybe in the earlier version would have it, when the hero is coming for the seventy thousand that had been taken away from him, he shoots in the suitcases that are covered with some expensive alligator skin [was it alligator, I wonder] and then the character played by James Coburn is annoyed by the insult) seek further help by becoming a patient in an institution that has fellows like him rambling, such as the republican aisle of Congress.
Trump would be the epitome of what could go wrong when you take If to the wrong extreme – but before going there, let us just say briefly that yes, the main significance that Kipling had in mind is not this jocular, comedy banter, but the opposite, he meant that we should be valiant, strong, munificent, resilient and many or all the other character strengths (let us still count more, for it helps to remember, perhaps even try one or two for measure, courage, kindness, love, transcendence, temperance, forgiveness, humility, patience, justice, citizenship, leadership, wisdom, curiosity, perspective, appreciation of excellence and beauty and you find the whole set by googling, what else, for Martin Seligman, co-founder of positive psychology and the studies he made, and you can assess your own standing)
The fool is worshipped by about seventy million Ericans – this comes from Lake Wobegon Days, where it is argued that America should have been called Erica, since they owe much more to Eric of Norway than to Amerigo Vespucci, and there is another key idea there, the fact that most people think themselves better than the average, at driving, reading, when it is not possible and we have the so-called Lake Wobegon Effect http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/08/l...
Donald Trump is not the archetype of the man with self-esteem, on the contrary, he has Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and the aforementioned Lake Wobegon Effect in the extreme, he does not see himself better than average, he is better than anyone else at…everything, and the Mirthful Perspective on Kipling’s If is personified by this Mad Man, who looks around and ‘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…’ has that galactic laughter associated with the self-proclaimed ‘very stable genius’ , a boast than in itself proves what an extreme mental case this is, he has done so much harm and yet he ‘keeps his head’ in that parallel universe…
This is a great disappointment and there is serious chagrin to have to witness all this Fall of the Erican Model, especially for people like me, who had had to live under a communist regime brought in by the Soviet Union – which another idiot, Kremlin Shorty, for dubious reasons praised for his intelligence (just because he had been as a cunning killer, some appear to think that must be clever, wise, smart, which it is not) tries now to reassemble, by invading Ukraine and then take other moves, Alhamdulillah, it has failed so far, though he keeps mentioning the nuclear weapons and if he does have cancer, he may wish to go to Infinity and Beyond with all of us attached to his departing rocket and use the infamous ‘Apres Moi, le Deluge’
I took part in the Romanian Revolution http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r... with the hope that this land would be more like America aka Erica and cut down the time difference – there was that joke we had, if the end of the world comes, the American and Russian (always Putin) presidents will appear in the media and say ‘do not worry, we have space ships and we will leave the earth, and at the same time ours shows on television and says, ‘do not worry, we are anyway one hundred years behind’- which used to be enormous in the communist days, but while on economic, financial, per capita spending and so many other indices we are way in the past, there is hope, for looking at IQ, the leader we have – magnificent Klaus Werner Johannis – we are eons ahead.
The Republicans in America have been through an incredible transformation, and if the Darwin law speaks of evolution, we have here a return of man to the ape stage, close on one hundred million humans are not able to make a basic analysis, to show the elementary capacity of an intelligent being, to see an enemy – it was fight or flight that took us were we are, to some extent, but procrastination, indulgence have dumbed the senses and the ability to identify danger – and they are just about as smart as an orangutan, and incidentally, Bill Maher has said that Trump comes from that species…
To try and end on a more positive note, I think that If works well here –let me fall into the same trap and narcissistic behavior – for in spite of the fact that I am quite banal and belong to the crowd surrounding the Son in Kipling’s If, there has been a mysterious fortune in that I had been the lover of Miss Romania, took part in the Revolution, well, maybe it was in part a coup d’etat, but I was heroic nonetheless, and here is the link to prove it, again http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
10 out of 10
There are a few ways to interpret, enjoy or contest If and one hilarious perspective belongs to a stand-up comedian, albeit I do not know his name alas, but you can have his take, or at least what I could make of it…the ingenious performer looks at the lines ‘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…’ and has an original conclusion and says that you should have your head examined, however different he will phrase it.
And the stand-up artist does have a point, for there is so much lunacy in the world that ‘being so sure of one self’ can be both reason to cheer – and we could refer to the ultimate expert on the matter, Nathaniel Branden, author of the life-changing The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/06/s... - and a sign of madness, as exemplified by the MAGA crowd in the Divided States of America, once the symbol of greatness, power, intrepid spirit, the Man that If refers to if you will, and now a land where we can all find our demise, for if they fail, we are all doomed to live in a Chinese Matrix, perhaps with some Russian characteristics…
There is the insurrectionist that takes down the Capitol Hill and does not doubt that he ‘can trust himself’ when in fact he should and see a doctor soon, then follow the medication and since that will not work (‘this is mean man’, as one line of dialogue in Payback, with Mel Gibson and maybe in the earlier version would have it, when the hero is coming for the seventy thousand that had been taken away from him, he shoots in the suitcases that are covered with some expensive alligator skin [was it alligator, I wonder] and then the character played by James Coburn is annoyed by the insult) seek further help by becoming a patient in an institution that has fellows like him rambling, such as the republican aisle of Congress.
Trump would be the epitome of what could go wrong when you take If to the wrong extreme – but before going there, let us just say briefly that yes, the main significance that Kipling had in mind is not this jocular, comedy banter, but the opposite, he meant that we should be valiant, strong, munificent, resilient and many or all the other character strengths (let us still count more, for it helps to remember, perhaps even try one or two for measure, courage, kindness, love, transcendence, temperance, forgiveness, humility, patience, justice, citizenship, leadership, wisdom, curiosity, perspective, appreciation of excellence and beauty and you find the whole set by googling, what else, for Martin Seligman, co-founder of positive psychology and the studies he made, and you can assess your own standing)
The fool is worshipped by about seventy million Ericans – this comes from Lake Wobegon Days, where it is argued that America should have been called Erica, since they owe much more to Eric of Norway than to Amerigo Vespucci, and there is another key idea there, the fact that most people think themselves better than the average, at driving, reading, when it is not possible and we have the so-called Lake Wobegon Effect http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/08/l...
Donald Trump is not the archetype of the man with self-esteem, on the contrary, he has Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and the aforementioned Lake Wobegon Effect in the extreme, he does not see himself better than average, he is better than anyone else at…everything, and the Mirthful Perspective on Kipling’s If is personified by this Mad Man, who looks around and ‘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…’ has that galactic laughter associated with the self-proclaimed ‘very stable genius’ , a boast than in itself proves what an extreme mental case this is, he has done so much harm and yet he ‘keeps his head’ in that parallel universe…
This is a great disappointment and there is serious chagrin to have to witness all this Fall of the Erican Model, especially for people like me, who had had to live under a communist regime brought in by the Soviet Union – which another idiot, Kremlin Shorty, for dubious reasons praised for his intelligence (just because he had been as a cunning killer, some appear to think that must be clever, wise, smart, which it is not) tries now to reassemble, by invading Ukraine and then take other moves, Alhamdulillah, it has failed so far, though he keeps mentioning the nuclear weapons and if he does have cancer, he may wish to go to Infinity and Beyond with all of us attached to his departing rocket and use the infamous ‘Apres Moi, le Deluge’
I took part in the Romanian Revolution http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r... with the hope that this land would be more like America aka Erica and cut down the time difference – there was that joke we had, if the end of the world comes, the American and Russian (always Putin) presidents will appear in the media and say ‘do not worry, we have space ships and we will leave the earth, and at the same time ours shows on television and says, ‘do not worry, we are anyway one hundred years behind’- which used to be enormous in the communist days, but while on economic, financial, per capita spending and so many other indices we are way in the past, there is hope, for looking at IQ, the leader we have – magnificent Klaus Werner Johannis – we are eons ahead.
The Republicans in America have been through an incredible transformation, and if the Darwin law speaks of evolution, we have here a return of man to the ape stage, close on one hundred million humans are not able to make a basic analysis, to show the elementary capacity of an intelligent being, to see an enemy – it was fight or flight that took us were we are, to some extent, but procrastination, indulgence have dumbed the senses and the ability to identify danger – and they are just about as smart as an orangutan, and incidentally, Bill Maher has said that Trump comes from that species…
To try and end on a more positive note, I think that If works well here –let me fall into the same trap and narcissistic behavior – for in spite of the fact that I am quite banal and belong to the crowd surrounding the Son in Kipling’s If, there has been a mysterious fortune in that I had been the lover of Miss Romania, took part in the Revolution, well, maybe it was in part a coup d’etat, but I was heroic nonetheless, and here is the link to prove it, again http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
March 9, 2024
FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
This poem makes you think about a lot of “if”s. It makes you think about what you would have done or not do in some situation. It challenges you think about life and how short, hard and unique it is.
For some people this poem make more sense than it does for other, it may motivate you, inspire you and give you advice.
This poem brings forward the true meaning of life, and that it is much more than cash, adventures or even family.
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
This poem makes you think about a lot of “if”s. It makes you think about what you would have done or not do in some situation. It challenges you think about life and how short, hard and unique it is.
For some people this poem make more sense than it does for other, it may motivate you, inspire you and give you advice.
This poem brings forward the true meaning of life, and that it is much more than cash, adventures or even family.
August 7, 2021
There is a particular version of this, read in a way that amplifies the impact of an already ground-shaking poem. I have fallen in love with these words and recite them from time to time. I find it amazing how words delivered in a particular way, with arcs of intensity and elegantly placed silences can move one's BEING back to who we really are... AND! the potential we all have in our journeys from the early beginnings to the very end.
April 3, 2023
Really needed to hear these words within IF. The words are timeless - actually. I purchased the audio book (audible), a canvas poster, and the full original works of Rudyard Kipling. I understand that IF was written in the form of paternal advice (father/son), but the words would be inspiring to anyone.
September 22, 2024
Highly recommended to all students, young adults and Dead Poets Society enthusiasts worldwide. Written at a time when the British Empire was questioned, this poem is a cry to balance, self-confidence, patience, honesty, humbleness, optimistic realism and strong-will.
May 30, 2020
A great poetry book!
January 14, 2021
Great...
“If all men count with you, but none too much;
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it..”
“If all men count with you, but none too much;
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it..”
January 21, 2025
IF only I had read it earlier.
April 5, 2025
Very wise and succcint.
August 7, 2025
Turning this great poem into a special keepsake with the story behind it and lovely illustrations
December 16, 2024
independent, 4.3 rounded down
January 12, 2021
A poem which brings out the true meaning of life and the way for living. It's one of the greatest poems of all time by Rudyard Kipling
April 14, 2022
Rudyard Kipling's poem 'If' was written in the early 1900s for his son, who later perished in The Great War. I've recently watched one of 'The Kingsmen' movies, the one with Ralph Fiennes. Yes, I know the movies are fiction, but the poem resonated with what happened to son. Good timing for me to be reading the poem again at this point, don't think I've thought about it since I read it in school decades ago.
Beautifully illustrated - kind of gentle, soft and tender.
Beautifully illustrated - kind of gentle, soft and tender.
January 6, 2022
La beauté des mots d'un parent pour son enfant
Quand le célèbre auteur du "Livre de la Jungle" écrit un poème pour son fils John, le résultat est d'une grande beauté. Avec justesse et sagesse, le père transmet à son enfant ses conseils pour traverser la vie. Par ses illustrations délicates, Giovanni Manna sublime ce poème qui s'adresse aux enfants... de tous âges!
Quand le célèbre auteur du "Livre de la Jungle" écrit un poème pour son fils John, le résultat est d'une grande beauté. Avec justesse et sagesse, le père transmet à son enfant ses conseils pour traverser la vie. Par ses illustrations délicates, Giovanni Manna sublime ce poème qui s'adresse aux enfants... de tous âges!
April 8, 2016
My feelings are still ambivalent - I sort of liked the poem, I can read the message and understand its importance, on the other hand, it didn't really touched my heart, I cannot say I am moved. It is just a poem like many others...
November 5, 2018
This is the first of Kipling's works that I've read and now I feel I need to remedy that. I feel that I am going to be pleasantly surprised and hope that the single poem is positively representative of his longer works.
September 2, 2022
One of the most beautiful, inspirational poems ever to have captured the masculine spirit on paper. Featuring endearing artwork on every page that compliments Mr Kipling’s writing. This is a book for all ages; worth reading again and again whether you have children of your own or not.
May 10, 2018
Well written. I would use with older students.
Read
May 23, 2020In honor of a very special human being.
December 4, 2021
Picture book format of the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling
Available on Epic!
Available on Epic!
September 11, 2023
What a treasure! --One of my favorite poems with Giovanni Manna illustrations!!!
July 9, 2024
Krásná jednoduchá báseň, nad kterou se stojí zamyslet.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews