Build Them Up

"I am on the mend.
At least now I can say that I am trying.
And I hope you will forget things I still lack.

Is it in you now,
To bear to hear the truth that you have spoken
Twisted up by knaves,
To make a trap for fools?

Is it in you now,
To watch the things you gave your life to broken?
And stoop then build them up with worn out tools?

Nothing gets so bad,
A whisper from your father couldn't fix it.
He whispers like a bridge, it's a river spanned.

Take all that you have,
And turn it into something you would miss if
Somebody threw that brick, shattered all your plans."

From Sowing Season (2006) by Brand New

"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;"

From If— (1895) by Rudyard Kipling