"I am nobody!" and some more

I shared with you all a few of my favorite lines few times before.

A few from collection
Some of my fav poems
Some lines

Here are a few more from Emily Dickinson
(Only the eight liners or less)


*     *    *    *      *      *

I had no time to hate, because
The grave would hinder me,
And life was not so ample I
Could finish enmity.

Nor had I time to love, but since
Some industry must be,
The little toil of love, I thought,
Was large enough for me.

*     *    *    *      *      *


You left me, sweet, two legacies,--
A legacy of love
A Heavenly Father would content,
Had He the offer of;

You left me boundaries of pain
Capacious as the sea,
Between eternity and time,
Your consciousness and me.

*     *    *    *      *      *

The sky is low, the clouds are mean,
A travelling flake of snow
Across a barn or through a rut
Debates if it will go.

A narrow wind complains all day
How some one treated him;
Nature, like us, is sometimes caught
Without her diadem.

*     *    *    *      *      *

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

*     *    *    *      *      *

For each ecstatic instant
We must an anguish pay
In keen and quivering ratio
To the ecstasy.

For each beloved hour
Sharp pittances of years,
Bitter contested farthings
And coffers heaped with tears.

*     *    *    *      *      *

My favorite still remains

I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us - don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know!

How dreary to be somebody!
How public like a frog
To tell one's name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

*     *    *    *      *      *

Enjoy!

And so read on...

"Fact is stranger than fiction" and yet, we readily accept the facts of newspaper but have hard time believing the fictions of books.

Well, that was not what I am going to write though. :)
I was on a classic reading spree for sometime. It broke because a speed-breaker completely toppled me and I found myself fallen on my face! So while I was on my classic reading spree, I read some unusual classics and I thought I might as well compile a list of those books (together with some I read before) for those few people who still come and peek in my blog :D

Ok, so here it goes in no particular order:

1. 1984 by George Orwell.
2. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
   
3. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
   
4. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
   
5. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
   
6. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
   
7. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
   
8. Love in the time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marqez
9. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
   
10. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
11. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
    

Now, I have seen that it is quite difficult to find a classic lover and usually they will still fall into various categories. So if you find classics tiring, slow-paced or tedious, I will still say, you try reading the first 3. Although, 1984 and Brave New world are almost on the same line.

Science fiction lovers, "Brave New world" and "1984" is just the kind of book you might like. They are classics so don't expect too much of modernity and of course, keep in mind the the era in which they were written. (There aren't any aliens btw so if you are looking for that, I suggest go somewhere else :D)

For people who like reading about unreal things, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is a must, must, must! For me, it was an eye opener. If you haven't read this, you have no idea what a classic can be. And forget about the plot. Each of its sentence has so much depth that you can keep pondering upon it.

Lets see now... if you are one of those who like the female oriented classic sort of book then you will prefer "Jane Eyre", "Pride and Prejudice" or "Gone with the Wind". These are usually favorites among girls. "JE" was my first classic, so obviously it holds a special place :). In case of "P&P" and "GwtW", the main characters Lizzy and Scarlett have made the books special for me.
But then GwtW has a lot more. If War interests you, if you are curious to know about how wars have changed lives, "Gone with the wind" might interest you.

For all those people who have interests in psychology, "Lolita", "Crime and Punishment" and "Love in the time of Cholera" are sure to give you some new insights. However be warned, they can be slow. And especially for Lolita, I would suggest you read the plot first, it isn't the kind that triggers good feelings. "Love in the time of Cholera" - well actually it is a lot about love and cholera and once you read it, you wouldn't know where one ends and the other begins. No not the usual mushy-mushy love story. For "Crime and Punishment", the title suggests a lot. Existentialism readers, "Crime and Punishment" is the book for you. Go read the mind of person on how he justifies his actions.

That leaves us with "Anna Karenina" and "The Mayor of Casterbridge". You might call them typical classics.

Actually I read "The Mayor of Casterbridge" and "Far from madding crowd" one after the another and for some reason the first one caught my fancy. May be because the plot was a little different or the pace was a little faster. It is set on the rustic surroundings of a village and tells the story of ... well if you are so much interested, go and read the book!

Personally "Anna Karenina" is not one of my favorites. And if you have never read classics, I will suggest, you do not start with it. Let me tell you the reasons - firstly it is huge, close to 800 pages and slow. By the time you reach the end, you might have forgotten how it had started. No seriously! Secondly it has too many characters and somewhere in between the main focus changes from one character to another. So basically you might forget about whom you were reading. Thirdly, there are too many stories. You have to keep count. Fourthly, after all these, if you manage to finish it, you might not like the ending. I mean I did not find the end worth all the efforts :(

Inspite of all these, it is a masterpiece. You might want to read and know why. (Like I did :D)
I think, the character sketching is amazing. The way each of the characters develop with each situation. Nowhere, you will think the changes to be abrupt inspite of the fact that the characters actually undergo great changes. Ok, I told that it has a lot of stories bound together. But the binding part is quite good. In a way it feels likes you are watching a real life story and not a fiction. And probably the end part was more on the expected lines of the then society so I should not complain. Now I am leaving the choice to you.

I guess that should do for today. :)
Huge list and too many reasons. If you ever happen to read a classic, do let me know what you thought about it and why.

Happy reading

To be, or not to be

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action. - Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.

- William Shakespeare
 (from Hamlet 3/1)

A few from the collections...

I had been reading Vikram Seth's collected poems recently. Although I admit this is my first encounter with his writings I did like going through some of his works. In this post, I am mentioning some of his octates and quatrains. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I do. By the way, this is certainly not exhaustive list, there are some more, but i will try and keep my post shorter. :)

GOD'S LOVE

God loves us all, I'm pleased to say -
Or those who love him anyway -
Or those who love him and are good.
Or so they say. Or so he should.

CONDITION

I have to speak - I must - I should - I ought...
I'd tell you how much I love you if I thought
The world would end tomorrow afternoon.
But short of that... well, it might be too soon.

INTERPRETATION

Somewhere within your loving look I sense,
Without least intention to deceive,
Without suspicion, without evidence,
Somewhere within your heart the heart to leave.

PASSAGE

Your eyes, my understanding, all will rot;
The trees we see, the books we read, will go;
The way that we use words, as like as not,
And we are fortunate that this is so.

VOICES

Voices in my head,
Chanting, 'Kisses. Bread.
Prove yourself. Fight. Shove.
Learn. Earn. Look for love,'

Drown a leser voice.
Silent now of choice;
'Breathe in peace, and be
Still, for once, like me.'

ALL YOU WHO SLEEP TONIGHT

All you who sleep tonight
Far from the onces you love,
No habd to left or right,
And emptiness above -

Know that you aren't alone.
The whole world shares your tears,
Some for two nights or one,
And some for all their years.

LAST NIGHT
(Translated from the urdu of Faiz Ahmed Faiz)

Last night your faded memory came to me
As in the wilderness spring comes quietly,
As, slowly, in the deser moves the breeze,
As, to a sick men, without cause, comes peace.

DISTRESSFUL HOMONYMS

Since for me now you have no warmth to spare
I sense I must adopt a sane and spare

Philosophy to ease a restless state
Fuelled by this uncaring. It will state

A very meagre truth: love, like the rest
Of our emotions, sometimes needs a rest.

Happiness, too, no doubt; and so, why even
Hope that the course of true love' could run even?

(Notice the rhyming words above!!!)

PROTOCOLS

What can I say to you? How can I now retract
All that that fool, my voice has spoken -
Now that the facts are plain, the placid surface cracked,
The protocols of friendship broken?

I cannot walk by day as now I walk by dawn
Past the still house where you lie sleeping
May the sun burn away these footprints on the lawn
And hold you in its warmth and keeping.

ACROSS

Across the miles I wish you well.
May nothing haunt your heart but sleep.
May you not sense what I don't tell
may you not dream, or doubt, or weep.

May what my pen this peaceless day
Writes on this page not reach your view
Till its deferred print lets you say
It speaks to someone else than you.


Each of them is complete in itself. I couldn't finding anything to add or comment. Just read and think it over. :)

ei.. emni bhabchhilaam...

"bos-e bos-e bhabchho ki
ohe matir phool
bhabna manei sopno jeno
sopno manei bhool"

onek din aage chhotobelaye porechhilam, ek baar. tobuo, keno jeno baar baar chhondo ta mone pore jaye. mone hoye keu jeno mana korchhe - bhabte, sopno dekhte... tobuo parini. aamar protidin jeno, sopno dekha diye-i shuru-o hoye aar shehsh-o. ei to bhabchhilam, tai likhe phellam.

bos-e bos-e bhabchhi aami
mon jeno maneni
bhabna bhool, sopno mitthye
tobuo chharte parini

aage konodin ei byapare bhabini je nijer bhashaye-o likhte pari. ei kichu din aage koyekta blog dekhe prothom baar ichhe holo. Sayantini-r comment ta pore bhablam chesta kora jaak, ek baar ontoto. Actually, friends-e baa readers-e keu-i bujhte paarbena, taai lekha ta kono din hoyeni. Answerable howar ichheta chhilo na. kintu blog ta to sobsomoye nijer jonyo-i lekha, tai aajke ei post ta likhlam.

:)

Anki

Reach for it!

Hi all..

Well, I'm back here with anotehr song I heard lately. Loved it! Read it for yourself and decide!

Reach - CALEIGH PETERS

Sometimes it seems like you're falling
Falling out of the sky
Sometimes it feels like you're slipping
And running out of time
And that's when you've gotta throw it all away
All of the things that people say
And all of the doubts that fill your mind
Don't belong there

Whatever you do, you'll never be wrong
As long as you reach for it
When you reach for it, nothings to far
And its never to long, as long as you reach for it
You can dream on it, everywhere its there

Sometimes I can be stupid
I can get out of line
But most times you know what I'm doing
Its not like some big surprise
Oh and I, I just want to make you understand
That failing on me isn't in my plans
And all of the doubts that fill my mind
Don't belong there.

Whatever you do, you'll never be wrong
As long as you reach for it
When you reach for it, nothings to far
And its never to long, as long as you reach for it
You can dream on it, everywhere

There's so much distance
Between what you want and what you've got
But if you really want it-its your life
So you gotta try
You've gotta fly

Whatever you do, you'll never be wrong
You can reach for it
You can reach for it

Its never to far and its never to long
As long as you reach for it.
You can dream on it, everywhere

What say??
I guess there isnt anything I can add to those words. Let your dreams run wild, you will find chasing them is fun!

Anki!

PS: By any chance are you thiking that I am running out of ideas? keep thinkin! ;). And did I forget to mention that the soundtrack was from the movie "Ice Princess" .

Break away!

Heard this song recently -

...
Trying hard to reach out
But when I tried to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me
Wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I'd pray
I could break away

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly.
I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky.
Make a wish, take a chance,
Make a change, and break away.
Out of the darkness and into the sun.
But I won't forget all the ones that I love.
I'll take a risk, take a chance,
Make a change, and break away

Wanna feel the warm breeze
Sleep under a palm tree
Feel the rush of the ocean
Get onboard a fast train
Travel on a jetplane
Far away
And break away
...

Life has been a series of different things for me. Each new moment has brought a new realization, a new lesson, a new sense of curiosity. If I look back, there are all those mementoes staring back at me. Looking past all of them, I still fail to see where it started. Even then, each coming day still seems to be just a beginning. It just seems long and eventful journey that reaches where, I dont know.

And it was on such a thoughtful occasion that I came across this song. Felt like sharing it with you all. All of us have a destiny to fulfill, a dream to create, a destination to reach which may never be possible if we don't try once to 'break away' .

Live life to your fullest. There is lot to do in a very limited time. Start today. Break away but take your own responsibility. Please. :)

Falling Stars * * *

Catch a falling star an’ put it in your pocket,
Never let it fade away!
Catch a falling star an’ put it in your pocket,
Save it for a rainy day!

For love may come an' tap you on the shoulder,
Some star-less night!
Just in case you feel you wanna’ hold her,
You’ll have a pocketful of starlight!

.

.

.

For when your troubles startn’ multiplyin’,

An' they just might!

It’s easy to forget them without tryin’,

With just a pocketful of starlight!

Catch a falling star an’ put it in your pocket,

Never let it fade away! ...

I heard this song somewhere recently. :)

Have any of you ever wished on falling stars? I did some 7 years back and they came true. I am not sure if they would have come true if I had not wished them on the FS (i.e falling stars) that day or not. Now, don't you laugh at me that something like wishing on a FS gives me pleasure. Infact I wished on a FS a few days back as well. Just because some people may use the term "silly" or "stupid" for that doesn't take away the smile they give me. Stupid or silly, whatever! I am not sure if you believe in them but anyways you can laugh if you want to. (Atleast I gave u reason to laugh :D)

Sometimes may be when I will catch (sight of) one of those FS I will end up wishing something vague, generalised which I will not even notice when it comes true because there will be so many ways for it to come true. Whats the use of wishing something like that! But by that time I will have enough starlight with me to light up my way.

My days have been very usual of late. By now you must have guessed I have nothing else to write so you just did some 'tp' over here!

Anki!

Some of my fav. poems

Poetry is said to be the oldest form of literature, known among the ancient people of Babylon, Greece, and Rome. Poetry basically combines feelings with idea and therfore appeeals both to our mind and our heart. One more reason for which poetry stands out distinctly is the way it is written. Unlike prose, poetry is not exact and definite. The poet uses fewer words and arouses the reader's imagination. And for this purpose there are tools like imagery, figurative language, rhythm, and so on.

I started reading and enjoying poetry at the same time when I first started reading for pleasure (that was probably form class I) but my proper introduction to poetry was in class VIIth. That was when I started reading (and writing) poems with a sort of purpose, tried to understand and analyse them. I may not have always seen them in the same way as they were written (because most of the time nothing is written explicitly in the poems) but I did start seeing them in my own way and relate it to something that I know. Poems have that beautiful property... each time you read them, they bring out a new meaning, sometimes one totally different from the previous and all readers interpret them in their own way not necessarily in the way, the poet wrote them.

So here are some of the poems that I carry in my heart and mind...(and this is not an exhaustive list). For now I will list only 14 of them for 2 reasons... 1) they r on varied subjects and 2) I could find the links to these. (I would have given 15, but I lost one of the links. The poem is A Musical Instrument. See if you can find the link. )



1.Casabianca

I read this long back but even today when I read it, I get the chills in my spine and my voice gets almost choked when I reach the last stanza. I wonder if such an incident can occur in the present days!

2.O Captain! My Captain!

The poem is beautiful, but I realised its true worth when I came to know that it is a allegory. I was told it was written after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The rhythm is so wonderful that I keep reading it again and again.

3.Success is counted sweetest

A message that all of us realises at least once. Ask the losers what they have lost, not the winners what they have won. Emily Dickinson has written on varied subjects but her strength (I felt) is that she can bring out pain in a way that u start admiring it and well, she has a different way of looking at even the day-to-day things. But this poem still stands out!

4.I'm Nobody

I have mentioned the last stanza in a prevoius post of mine. Each time I read this, I feel the poet is sharing a secret with me and I wonder what would be my answer. I cannot disagree but I guess I cannot agree either.


5.I had been hungry all the years;

From the same poet. Is it not true that once we get what we wanted we forget its worth and if we would have not got it, it would have become all the more precious. Why is it so?

6.Song

What do you say? There are very few people who can say that they don't want to be remembered. Even I am not one of them. This poem still touches me, "if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget"

7.The Solitary Reaper

This one comes from the memory of my school days. And I am sure I must have reminded some of you as well. Can you hear that tune echoing in your mind? It is amazing, how words can incite our imaginations. Some of my very earlier poems are inpired by this poem. I just cannot forget it! (neither do I want to.)

8. Sweetest Love, I do not go

The words were remembered after the first time I read it :) pretty good isnt it? I dont know which is more beautiful, the words, the rhythm or the way both of them are presented!

9.La Belle Dame sans Merci

This is remembered because of my English Literature Sir. The speciality of this poem, he said, was that it can be interpreted in many ways, (3 of them I remember). I would have never gone to the depths of this without his guidance. Infact, it was he who made me realise, poems are wonderful in so many ways. I am grateful to him. As for this poem, hopefully, none of us ever get entrapped in the false enticements of this world.

10.Hope is the thing with feathers

Emily Dickinson, yet again! See the last line "Yet, never, in Extremity, It asked a crumb--Of Me". Tells everything about "hope" in so few lines. Doesn't it? I just love this poem.

11. The Road Not Taken

Well, how many of us in a situation of taking decision, decides in this way? Very few. One poem that rings in my ears if I ever feel, I am walking out of the crowd. have faith in yourself. If you cannot have, how can others?

12. Verses

The pleasures and pains of solitude all encompassed in one poem. More pain, less pleasure! All in all a poem you cannot disagree to.


13. Milk for the Cat

You know, after I read this poem, I actually observed a cat and realised it really does happen this way! Nice observation (not mine, the poet's). And of course, written in a wonderful way, I can almost see the cat. Can't you?

14. I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud

Well if I havent mentioned this, I havent mentioned anything at all. Read and enjoy. Poets like wordsworth have brought nature right in front of the readers through his poems. Nobody has to see the daffodils to realise how wonderful they are and nobody can help remembering these lines (once read) each time he/she looks at a row of flowers (not just daffodils, any flowers.)

Enjoy!!! Any choices from your side that I should read, drop in the links please.

(This had been a draft from Nov 5th 2005. I felt I shud publish it finally. Now that will keep you busy for some days. Will it not?)

Of Books and Authors II

(For all the readers of this blog, I have included the links to my poems in the side-bar. If you go through them, don't forget to drop in your comment)

I never finished the more-than-1100-pages book in fear that once I finished, I would never care to look at Holmes again. Today I took out the book and smiled at myself.

Soon after this during the same years I was introduced to Ruskin Bond. It was his simplicity of words that stole my attention, the depth of his thoughts. And his stories were in first person and while reading them I felt as if I was his confidant. There was something personal in the way his stories were told, quite different from Dr Watson who (almost) merely placed the facts before the readers. There were more reasons - his closeness to nature and that he could touch all the stages of life - childhood, youth and old age in the same way. Then there was the twists he always managed to bring about in some of his short stories like "The eyes have it".

Coming to short stories of course how can I forget some of my all time favorites "The last leaf" by O.Henry, "The Open Window" by Saki, ... I am forgetting some of them, there are so many which I can always read and enjoy even for the umpteenth time. The best however remains "The face on the wall"by E.V.Lucas.

In my standard 9th and 10th I had to stop my frequent trysts with story books. Then in my 11th it started again. But this time the books were quite different. Most of the time I finished them just because I had started them. I didn't give them much of my time either. After 12th, I started classics. "Jane Eyre" was good. "Pride and Prejudice" was fine. But after reading "Sense and Sensibility", I lost interest. The next book I undertook was "Fountainhead". The philosophy went way over my head but I liked it because of the strength of the characters.

Many books came on my way after that - books by Jeffery Archer, "Harry Potter", "Class", "Animal Farm", "Diary of a young girl", and there were more (my memory fails me). I liked them for different reasons.

In the recent days I read Da Vinci Code, The Alchemist. I also read some Indian authors whom I liked because of the richness of language, the poetic approach and because it was not one of those cut-sliced-and-served-on-a-plate sort of book, it was as-you-want-to-take-it kind of book. This includes one more book "The pale view of hills" (my regrets, I forgot the name of the Japanese author).

But you see all these still do not answer the question "Who is my favourite author". All are so much different from each other and I like them for different reasons. Is it not possible that the question remains unanswered.

Of Books and Authors - I

I always believed reading is my hobby. Of course I will agree that from the vast sea of books that exist, what I have tasted probably does not constitute even one drop. But does that matter? I wonder. Then the usual question comes up, "Who is my favourite author". For various reasons I always stumble upon this question. Although I do manage to answer, but the question continues linger in my sub-conscious.

My earliest memories are of the "Champaks" and "Tinkles" that used to occupy most of my reading. Then came "Tintin", "Asterisks" and all. With the introduction to my mother tongue I came in touch with bengali works including compositions of my father. All these were very prized possessions of mine. And I still remember the feel of the warm fresh tears that streamed down my eyes when I was returned one of my prized possessions in tattered conditions. It was as if someone very close to me was returned to me in near-death condition after being brutally tortured. That was when I was in class 1st.

My change of school in 4th standard brought me to the magical world of library. And with that I was introduced to Enid Blyton and the like. I actually do not remember the various authors whose work I read then because at that time, the characters were more important. Some of the characters were Mr Pickwick, Amelia Jane, and how can I forget Alice and Peter Pan. Then came the adventures. My first step was Famous Five, then I ascended to Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys. But none of these made much of an impact.

It was then that I came across Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. All previous books gave a feeling of imagination but this one was different. I used to get so engrossed while reading it that I thought I was a part of the team too. I started admiring Holmes. His deductions, calculated moves, acumen, penetrating mind, flawless logic, the calmness with which he dealt with the situations - all used to take away my breath. Each time I found him in some danger, my heart used to skip a beat. Everywhere I went, be it school or travel the almost 5 cm thick book was to be with me. For me he was a like a living legend and I denied to believe that he was a work of fiction. I still remember after I read a story in which he couldn't catch the culprit (the culprit was a lady) I remained heartbroken for quite sometime. That was in standard 7th - 8th.

I am sorry the constraint of time does not permit me to continue. So I will take a break today but I will return soon with the rest of the journey.

Some lines

We often come across certain lines that either make a mark in our mind or are remembered just like that. Here are some of the lines that I have come across.

Few days back I was reading "Wings Of Fire" An Autobiography of A P J Abdul Kalam with Arun Tiwari. I coudn't finish the book (hopefully i will do so before leaving this place) but I came across quite a number of lines there. Here is one of them:

If you want to leave your footprints
On the sands of time
Do not drag your feet

How true!!! So simple yet so enlightening. how many of us doesn't know that dragging our feet leaves no footprints on the sand but how many of us think the same way about "sands of time"? Footprints and sands reminds me of another poem that I have come across many times, first time in my class 6th. It is titled "footprints". I don't remember the exact words but I suppose all of you must have come across it. (in case you have not and you want to... check this blog out after some weeks, I will write it ASAP)

Leaving marks on the sands of time... has it something to do with being famous? Because when fame comes to my mind, I almost immediately remember the lines of Emily Dickinson:

How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

Whatever does "leaving footprints on sands of time mean"... dragging one's feet probably means doing the work halfheartedly and that brings to my mind a series of lines.

The first one by Conrad Hilton

The man who wins is the average man,
Not built on any particular plan;
Not blessed with any particular luck -
Just steady and earnest and full of pluck.
The man who wins is the man who works,
Who neither labor nor trouble shirks;
Who uses his hands, his head, his eyes-
The man who wins is the man who tries.

Then comes by Lewis Carrol

Let craft, ambition, spite
Be quenched in Reason's night
Till weakness turn to might
Till what is dark be light

Till what is wrong be right

Of course none of us can forget to mention the famous lines by Robert Frost

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
miles to go before I sleep,
and miles to go before I sleep

and then comes the famous poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling.

There is something about this poem that makes it so unique... I can read it again and again and still never think of not reading it one more time.

Then there are these lines which when I came across at once reminded me of the above mentioned poem.

For all your days prepare
And meet them ever alike
When you are the anvil, bear-
When you are the hammer, strike

There are many more such lines. I will continue some other time on some other context.

Keep coming back!!!