He started with nothing, but courage to climb
But patiently struggled and waited his time
He dangled a while from real poverty's limb
Yet he got to the top, was the world against him?
I could name you a dozen, yes hundreds I guess.
Of poor boys who've patiently climbed to success.
All boys who were down, who struggled alone,
who would've thought themselves rich if your fortune they'd known;
Yet they rose in the world, you're so quick to condemn.
And I'm asking you now, was the world against them?
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
when the road you’re trudging, seems all uphill,
when the funds are low and debt are high,
and you want to smile, but have to sigh.
When care is pressing you down a bit,
rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
as everyone of us sometimes learns,
and many a failure turns about,
when he might have won,
if he’d stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,
you might succeed with another blow.
Often the struggler has given up,
when he might’ve captured the victor’s cup,
and he learned too late,
when the night slipped down,
how close he was to the golden crown,
success is failure turned inside out,
the silver tint of clouds of doubt,
and you never can tell how close you are,
it may be near when it seems afar,
so stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
it’s when things seem worst,
that you mustn’t quit.
