CAN you go to another who wins in the fight <br />And give him a hand-shake that 's true? <br />Do you find yourself feeling a sense of delight <br />In the good work another may do? <br />Or deep in your heart are there envy and hate, <br />When you see someone getting ahead? <br />Do you sneer at his luck and rail at your fate? <br />If you do all your courage has fled. <br /> <br />If you haven't learned to rejoice in the deed <br />Of your brothers and give them a cheer, <br />You haven't discovered the pathways that lead <br />To genuine happiness here. <br />If you cannot say to a brother, ' I 'm glad <br />You have conquered,' and give him your hand, <br />Your life must be gloomy and woefully sad, <br />You 're building your mansion on sand. <br /> <br />Did you secretly gloat when another had failed, <br />Did you sneer at the efforts he made? <br />Did it inwardly please you to see him assailed, <br />Did you chuckle to see him outplayed? <br />If this is the part you have chosen to play, <br />If you are as selfish as this, <br />Though he falls in the thick and the heat of the fray, <br />Your failure is greater than his.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/other-s-successes/
