It needed just an extra turn to make the bolt secure, <br />A few more minutes on the job and then the work was sure; <br />But he begrudged the extra turn, and when the task was through, <br />The man was back for more repairs in just a day or two. <br />Two men there are in every place, and one is only fair, <br />The other gives the extra turn to every bolt that's there; <br />One man is slip-shod in his work and eager to be quit, <br />The other never leaves a task until he's sure of it. <br />The difference 'twixt good and bad is not so very much, <br />A few more minutes at the task, an extra turn or touch, <br />A final test that all is right—and yet the men are few <br />Who seem to think it worth their while these extra things to do. <br />The poor man knows as well as does the good man how to work, <br />But one takes pride in every task, the other likes to shirk; <br />With just as little as he can, one seeks his pay to earn, <br />The good man always gives the bolt that clinching, extra turn.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/clinching-the-bolt/
