day41: how to succeed ...

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people 

and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics 

and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, 

whether by a healthy child, a garden patch 

or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier 

because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded. 

Bessie Stanley*

simply this ...

love, mom

(*Often attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, it is an adaptation of a poem published in 1905 by Bessie Stanley. No version of it has been found in Emerson's writings. For more information see “Success.”)