All in the dark we grope along, <br />And if we go amiss <br />We learn at least which path is wrong, <br />And there is gain in this. <br /> <br />We do not always win the race, <br />By only running right, <br />We have to tread the mountain's base <br />Before we reach its height. <br /> <br />The Christs alone no errors made; <br />So often had they trod <br />The paths that lead through light and shade, <br />They had become as God. <br /> <br />As Krishna, Buddha, Christ again, <br />They passed along the way, <br />And left those mighty truths which men <br />But dimly grasp to-day. <br /> <br />But he who loves himself the last <br />And knows the use of pain, <br />Though strewn with errors all his past, <br />He surely shall attain. <br /> <br />Some souls there are that needs must taste <br />Of wrong, ere choosing right; <br />We should not call those years a waste <br />Which led us to the light.<br /><br />Ella Wheeler Wilcox<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/life-8/
