You think that the failures are many, <br /> You think the successes are few, <br />But you judge by the rule of the penny, <br /> And not by the good that men do. <br />You judge men by standards of treasure <br /> That merely obtain upon earth, <br />When the brother you're snubbing may measure <br /> Full-length to God's standard of worth. <br /> <br />The failures are not in the ditches, <br /> The failures are not in the ranks, <br />They have missed the acquirement of riches, <br /> Their fortunes are not in the banks. <br />Their virtues are never paraded, <br /> Their worth is not always in view, <br />But they're fighting their battles unaided, <br /> And fighting them honestly, too. <br /> <br />There are failures to-day in high places <br /> The failures aren't all in the low; <br />There are rich men with scorn in their faces <br /> Whose homes are but castles of woe. <br />The homes that are happy are many, <br /> And numberless fathers are true; <br />And this is the standard, if any, <br /> By which we must judge what men do. <br /> <br />Wherever loved ones are awaiting <br /> The toiler to kiss and caress, <br />Though in Bradstreet's he hasn't a rating, <br /> He still is a splendid success. <br />If the dear ones who gather about him <br /> And know what he's striving to do <br />Have never a reason to doubt him, <br /> Is he less successful than you? <br /> <br />You think that the failures are many, <br /> You judge by men's profits in gold; <br />You judge by the rule of the penny— <br /> In this true success isn't told. <br />This falsely man's story is telling, <br /> For wealth often brings on distress, <br />But wherever love brightens a dwelling, <br /> There lives; rich or poor, a success.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-real-successes/
