la stan perdendo e te ne attribuiscono la colpa,
se sai aver fiducia in te stesso quando tutti dubitano di te
ed essere indulgente verso chi dubita;
se sai aspettare e non stancartene,
e mantenerti retto se la calunnia ti circonda
e non odiare se sei odiato,
senza tuttavia apparire troppo buono né parlare troppo da saggio;
se sai sognare senza fare dei sogni i tuoi padroni;
se riesci a pensare senza fare dei tuoi pensieri il tuo fine;
se sai affrontare il Successo e la Sconfitta
e trattare questi due impostori nello stesso modo;
se riesci a sopportare di sentire la verità che tu hai detto
distorta da imbroglioni che ne fanno una trappola per gli ingenui;
se sai guardare le cose, per le quali hai dato la vita,
distrutte e riesci a resistere ed a ricostruirle con strumenti logori;
se sai fare un fascio di tutte le tue fortune
e giocarlo in un colpo solo a testa e croce
e sai perdere e ricominciare da capo
senza mai lasciarti sfuggire una parola su quello che hai perso;
se sai costringere il tuo cuore, i tuoi nervi, i tuoi muscoli
a sorreggerti anche quando sono esausti,
e così resistere finché non vi sia altro in te
oltreché la volontà che dice loro: "Resistete!";
se riesci a parlare con i disonesti senza perdere la tua onestà,
o ad avvicinare i potenti senza perdere il tuo normale atteggiamento,
se né i nemici né gli amici troppo premurosi possono ferirti,
se per te ogni persona conta, ma nessuno troppo;
se riesci a riempire l'inesorabile minuto
dando valore ad ogni istante che passa:
il mondo e tutto ciò che è in esso sarà tuo,
e, quel che conta di più, tu sarai un Uomo, figlio mio!
***
IF
(Letter to the son)
by
Rudyard Kipling
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 from 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 loose 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!
(Letter to the son)
by
Rudyard Kipling
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 from 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 loose 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!