Classic Poem

Do the Best You Can

The world around us doesn't wait for us to make a mark;
For waiting is so futile when we have so little spark.
So many do the waiting as they watch the world go by;
Too many sit and wonder how the mountains meet the sky.

It's those who climb the mountain, even those who leave the ground,
Who find that, in so doing, simple answers may be found.
The ones who show their fellow man the way good things are done,
May not make easy money, but they're good at having fun.

Let's get up off our haunches! Do our thing, though it be small;
It's better late or little.... than to not have tried at all.
The least of us can make a mark upon our fellow man....
And on the world around us.... when we do the best we can.


(I wrote this at the Department of State while applying to enter the Foreign Service, Washington, D. C.,1964.)