If—
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
Poem
Vocabulary List Tap 🔊
Tap the speaker to hear each word or phrase.
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make allowance for
To consider something; to be patient with someone’s weakness or doubt.
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deal in lies
To tell or spread lies.
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Triumph and Disaster
Great success and great failure (treated as “impostors” in the poem).
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impostors
Things that pretend to be more important or real than they are.
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knaves
Dishonest men.
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stoop
To bend down; here, to humble yourself and start repairing.
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worn-out
Old and no longer strong or useful.
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pitch-and-toss
An old coin-toss gambling game—risking everything on one chance.
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sinew
Tendon; figuratively, your physical strength.
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virtue
Moral goodness; good character.
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foes
Enemies.
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the unforgiving minute
Time that does not wait—use every second well.
Meaning (Simple)
The poem is a list of advice about character: stay calm, be honest, accept success and failure, rebuild after loss, keep working when tired, and treat everyone with respect. If you do these things, Kipling says, you will be strong, mature, and ready for life.
Comprehension Questions
Answer the questions based on the poem.
- Why does the speaker call Triumph and Disaster “impostors”?
- What should you do when others lie about or hate you?
- What does the poem say to do after you lose everything?
- What is “the unforgiving minute,” and how should you use it?
- Choose one line of advice that you think is most important. Why?
Discussion Prompts
- Which stanza speaks to you most? Explain with examples from your life.
- Is it possible to treat success and failure the same? How?
- When is “not giving way to hating” hardest? What can help?
- Rewrite one “If you can…” line in your own words for modern life.