Do you wish the world were better? <br />Let me tell you what to do. <br />Set a watch upon your actions, <br />Keep them always straight and true. <br />Rid your mind of selfish motives, <br />Let your thoughts be clean and high. <br />You can make a little Eden <br />Of the sphere you occupy. <br />Do you wish the world were wiser? <br />Well, suppose you make a start, <br />By accumulating wisdom <br />In the scrapbook of your heart; <br />Do not waste one page on folly; <br />Live to learn, and learn to live <br />If you want to give men knowledge <br />You must get, ere you give. <br />Do you wish the world were happy? <br />Then remember day by day <br />Just to scatter seeds of kindness <br />As you pass along the way, <br />For the pleasures of the many <br />May be ofttimes traced to one, <br />As the hand that plants an acorn <br />Shelters armies from the sun.<br /><br />Ella Wheeler Wilcox<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/wishing-39/
