If nobody smiled and nobody cheered and nobody helped us along, <br />If each every minute looked after himself and good things all went to the <br /> strong, <br />If nobody cared just a little for you, and nobody thought about me, <br />And we stood all alone to the battle of life, what a dreary old world it <br /> would be! <br /> <br />If there were no such a thing as a flag in the sky as a symbol of <br /> comradeship here, <br />If we lived as the animals live in the woods, with nothing held sacred or <br /> dear, <br />And selfishness ruled us from birth to the end, and never a neighbor had <br /> we, <br />And never we gave to another in need, what a dreary old world it would be! <br /> <br />Oh, if we were rich as the richest on earth and strong as the strongest <br /> that lives, <br />Yet never we knew the delight and the charm of the smile which the other <br /> man gives, <br />If kindness were never a part of ourselves, though we owned all the land we <br /> could see, <br />And friendship meant nothing at all to us here, what a dreary old world it <br /> would be! <br /> <br />Life is sweet just because of the friends we have made and the things which <br /> in common we share; <br />We want to live on not because of ourselves, but because of the people who <br /> care; <br />It's giving and doing for somebody else- on that all life's splendor <br /> depends, <br />And the joy of this world, when you've summed it all up, is found in the <br /> making of friends.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-making-of-friends/
