Poet: Unknown
It is not always the doing well
That measures the fame of a man;
The hero is he, who the world can see
Is doing the best he can.
Poet: Douglas Malloch
If you can't be a pine on top of the hill
Be a scrub in the valley - but be
The best little scrub at the side of the rill.
Be a bush if you can't be a tree.
If you can't be a bush be a bit of grass
Some highway to happier make.
If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass,
But the liveliest bass in the lake.
We can't all be captains, we've got to have crew,
There's something for all of us here.
There's big work to do and there's lesser work too
And the task we must do is near.
If you can't be a highway, then just be a trail.
If you can't be the sun be a star.
It isn't by size that you win or you fail.
Be the best of whatever you are.
be the best quotes
Poet: W. C. Thurston
Take imagination and enthusiasm,
And hitch the two together,
Then fix your gaze on the farthest star
And forget about the weather.
Take a pound of pluck and energy a
And mix with an ounce of thrift,
Then forward-march to the heights ahead,
And don’t be begging a lift.
Pick out the hill you want to climb
And fix your gaze on the peak,
Then blaze your way to the very top,
The bottom is reserved for the weak.
Imagination and enthusiasm;
Mark you! this matchless team,
Is yours to harness and drive to the goal,
Of all your heart has dreamed.
Imagination and enthusiasm;
Oh man! if you are wise,
You’ll give ’em the rein,
Then fix your gaze
On the brightest star in the skies
Poet: Unknown
I love to do right,
And I love the truth;
And I'll always love them,
While in my youth.
And when I grow old,
And when I grow gray,
I will love them still,
Depart who may.
Poet: Wilhelmina Stitch
You were not made for failure but success;
Not born for sorrow but for happiness.
Keep this in mind through all life's storms and stress.
Hold up your head.
You were not born a slave but free as air,
In all the beauty of the world you share,
Now banish fear and brush away dull care.
Hold up your head.
The heroes of the world are true kin.
You, too, have greatness buried deep within.
Give it a chance; no fight too hard to win.
Hold up your head.
Remember this great world has need of you,
Has need of all the work that you can do;
And of your visions and your ideals too.
Hold up your head.
Hark to the drums of life! They throb and roll;
Inspire with courage the responsive soul.
March on, you're bound to reach your goal.
Hold up your head.
Poet: Catherine Pulsifer, ©2020
Don't compare yourself to others
Don't wish that you were your brother.
Don't be jealous of others success,
Just remember to do your best.
You are given gifts to use
You have to decide, you have to choose
Do make your life a contest,
Just remember to do your best.
Set your goals and take the action
Set them according to your passion.
As you move step by step,
Just remember to do your best.
When you look back at the years that have passed
You will be amazed how time is so fast
You will realize you passed life's test
As you lived your life by doing your best!
Poet: William Davies
Think not alone to do right, and fulfill
Life's due perfection by the simple worth
Of lawful actions called by justice forth,
And thus condone a world confused with ill!
But fix the high condition of thy will
To be right, that its good's spontaneous birth
May spread like flowers springing from the earth
On which the natural dews of heaven distill;
For these require no honors, take no care
For gratitude from men--but more are blessed
In the sweet ignorance that they are fair;
And through their proper functions live and rest,
Breathing their fragrance out with joyous air,
Content with praise of bettering what is best.
Poet: Eben E. Rexford
When things don't go to suit us,
Why should we fold our hands,
And say, "No use in trying;
Fate baffles all our plans"?
Let not your courage falter,
Keep faith in God and man,
And to this thought be steadfast:
"I'll do the best I can."
If clouds blot out the sunshine
Along the way you tread,
Don't grieve in hopeless fashion
And sigh for brightness fled.
Beyond the clouds the sunlight
Shines in the eternal plan;
Trust that the way will brighten,
And do the best you can.
Away with vain repinings;
Sing songs of hope and cheer,
Till many a weary comrade
Grows strong of heart to hear.
He who sings over trouble
Is aye the wisest man;
He can't help what has happened,
But — does the best he can.
So if things won't go to suit us,
Let's never fume and fret,
For finding fault with fortune
Ne'er mended matters yet.
Make the best of whate'er happens,
Bear failure like a man,
And in good or evil fortune
Do just the best you can.
Poet: Strickland Gillilan
There is pardon for failure to reach just the mark
You'd set for yourself in the struggle of life.
There's forgiveness for him who, through lacking the spark
Of genius, is "downed" in the thick of the strife.
There is balm for the pride of the fellow who fails
To attain what he wished when his struggle began.
But the world will be deaf to the babyish wails
Of the man who does less than the best that he can.
The world's fairly just in accrediting praise
And fairly judicious in placing the blame.
Its eye's fairly clear in observing the plays
In front of the grand stand in life's busy game.
The runner who's spiked is forgiven his limp,
And nobody kicks o'er the pace that he ran.
But the hoot and the jeer for the white-livered imp
Who does any less than the best that he can.
When we finish our season and pennants are won,
We'll be judged not so much by our batting per cent.
As by what, with more effort, we ought to have done;
By the time we have wasted on indolence bent.
There'll be less of "What did you? "than "What could have been?"
In the light of equipment your work they will scan.
They'll forgive you for failing the pennant to win,
But never for less-than-the-best-that-you-can.
Poet: Frank Otis Erb
That noble future you so fondly dreamed;
That service which on life's horizon gleamed;
That influence far-reaching in its scope;
That great success on which you set your hope.
And now the door is closed, the gate is barred?
What then? Repinings? bitterness? a heart grown hard?
Nay! Nay! Serve where you are.
And as you share your best with others, lo,
Slowly above your leaden rim will glow
A nobler future than you dared to dream,
A service broader than youth's fondest gleam,
An influence heaven-reaching in its scope,
Success more brilliant than your dearest hope,
O heart! serve where you are.
Poet: David V. Bush
In the mid-night hours of sorrow,
In the mid-night of despair,
I’ve thought that life’s great burden
Was more than I could bear.
How often! O how often
I have thought, "It is no use,
There’s naught in. store for such as I
But sorrow and abuse."
I’ve longed to banish sorrow
And life with its heavy wand!
I’ve prayed for no tomorrow -
Just death and oblivion.
In life’s dark hour of sadness,
In times when I would die,
There came the hope eternal:
"Reward somehow is nigh."
In all of the hours of struggle,
In dark times of despair
The wee still voice would whisper,
"Work on and strive and dare."
And I was not mistaken,
Tho years it took to win.
No soul shall ever fail, my friend,
Who works with might and vim.
O never think of giving up,
Ne’er think the battle lost;
Just grit your teeth and do your best
It’s worth all that it cost!
Poet: Phoebe Cary
Suppose, my little lady,
Your doll should break her head;
Could you make it whole by crying
Till your eyes and nose are red?
And wouldn't it be pleasanter
To treat it as a joke,
And say you're glad " 'twas Dolly's,
And not your head that broke! "
Suppose you're dressed for walking,
And the rain comes pouring down,
Will it clear off any sooner
Because you scold and frown?
And wouldn't it be nicer
For you to smile than pout,
And so make sunshine in the house,
Wlien there is none without?
Suppose your task, my little man,
Is very hard to get;
Will it make it any easier
For you to sit and fret?
And wouldn't it be pleasanter
Than waiting like a dunce,
To go to work in earnest,
And learn the thing at once?
Suppose that some boys have a horse,
And some a coach and pair;
Will it tire you less while walking.
To say ''it isn't fair?"
And wouldn't it be nobler
To keep your temper sweet,
And in your heart be thankful
You can walk upon your feet?
And suppose the world don't please you,
Nor the way some people do, -
Do you think the whole creation
Will be altered just for you?
And isn't it, my boy or girl.
The wisest, bravest plan,
Whatever comes, or doesn't come,
To do the best you can?
Poet: David V. Bush
Be not dismayed if you’re not paid
For what you do today!
For he who works and never shirks
Is bound to win some day!
For years you work just “like a Turk,”
The same old drum-de-drum;
But never mind - men of your kind
Have forced success to come!
You get no cheer for many a year,
And very little praise?
’Twas seven years - but with no fears
Napoleon had no raise.
So let each day and record - say,
“I’ve done the best I can:”
Tho long the road, heavy the load,
You’ll lead some day the van.
Remember, man, winners who stand
Faced failure - often hit.
There’s success on the way for the one who will say
“I’ll keep everlastingly at it!”
Poet: Edgar A. Guest
We know not how we came to be
Cast for the work that we are doing,
Why one should sail the stormy sea,
And one the farmer's horse be shoeing.
Why one should paint and one should write.
Why one seem dull, another smart;
We only know, both day and night.
That each of us must play his part.
He serves this world who digs the ditch
As much as he who writes the novels;
Life leans no more upon the rich
Than on the men who dwell in hovels.
What greatness is we cannot say,
God only knows who meets the test;
On earth it's but a part we play,
And with it each must do his best.
Poet: Unknown
Do your best,
Not because your work is worth it,
But because you are.
Whatever you are doing, you are making manhood.
Half-hearted work makes only half a man.
Slipshod methods mean loose principles.
The only way to keep character up to the standard is
By continually living up to the highest standard in all that you do.
Poet: Unknown
"I cannot do much," said a little star,
"To make the dark world bright;
My silver beams cannot struggle far
Through the folding gloom of night:
But I am a part of God s great plan,
And I'll cheerfully do the best that I can."
"What is the use," said a fleecy cloud,
"Of these dew-drops that I hold?
They will hardly bend the lily proud.
Though caught in her cup of gold;
Yet I am a part of God's great plan.
My treasures I'll give as well as I can."
A child went merrily forth to play,
But a thought, like a silver thread.
Kept winding in and out all day
Through the happy, busy head,
"Mother said, 'Darling, do all you can,
For you are a part of God's great plan.'"
So she helped a younger child along.
When the road was rough to the feet;
And she sang from her heart a little song,
A song that was passing sweet;
And her father, a weary, toil-worn man,
Said, "I too will do the best that I can."
Poet: S. D. Gordon
It is good to know;
it is better to do;
it is best to be.
To be pure and strong,
to be honest and earnest,
to be kindly and thoughtful,
and in all to be true,
to be manly and womanly and Christly -
this is the greatest ambition in life.
It is not In knowing or having or doing,
but through knowing and having and doing the best,
it is in being, in what a man is in himself.
He can do more for others
who has done most with himself.
Mastery of circumstances comes only
through mastery of self.
Poet: Kate Louise Wheeler
Make the best of life to-day
Take what God has given;
Do not falter on the way
Each step leads to Heaven.
Tho’ the journey may be long,
And the way be weary,
Make it shorter with a song
Days will seem less dreary.
Let the sunshine fill your heart
All it’s shadows hiding;
Do your humble little part
Leave to God the guiding.
Do not soar to highest things
’Till you have a reason;
He will give the soul it’s wings
In his own good season.
Little robins in the nest
Ere their wings are stronger
Learn too late that it is best
To keep patient longer.
If you cannot do to-day
What you hope and plan,
God will show a better way,
Do the best you can.
Poet: Strickland Gillilan
Failure, when you have done your best, is bad.
I know a thing a thousand times as sad:
The sting that failure leaves within your breast
An ache that knows no surcease, gives no rest
When you recall you did not do your best.
