To laugh often

And love much

To win the respect

Of intelligent persons

And the affection of children

To earn the approbation

Of honest citizens and

Endure the betrayal

Of false friends

To leave the world a bit

Better, whether by a healthy

Child, a garden patch, or a

Redeemed social condition

To have laughed and played

With enthusiasm and

Sung with exultation

To know even one life

Has breathed easier

Because you have lived

This is to have succeeded.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson