If you are kind,
people may accuse you of selfish ulterior
motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful,
you will win some false friends and
some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building,
someone could destroy overnight.
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis
it is between you and God;
it was never between you and them anyway.
This poem is engraved on the wall of
Mother Teresa's home for children in
Calcutta.
(sometimes mistakenly spelled "Mother Theresa")