If I can guide some erring one to truth, inspire within his heart a sense of duty;
If I can plant within my soul of rosy youth a sense of right, a love of truth and beauty;
If I can teach one man that God and heaven are near,
I shall not then have lived in vain while here.
If from my mind I banish doubt and fear, and keep my life attuned to love and kindness;
If I can scatter light and hope and cheer, and help remove the curse of mental blindness;
If I can make more joy, more hope, less pain, I shall not have lived and loved in vain.
If by life's roadside I can plant a tree, beneath whose shade some wearied head may rest,
Though I may never share its beauty, I shall yet be truly blest- though no one knows my name,
Nor drops a flower upon my grave, I shall not have lived in vain while here.