Talk:If—

I really do love this poem. It is inspirational and helps bring me hope that the corrupt, lustful elements of our society will one day be washed away with lawfulness and morality. Furthermore, this poem shows the many qualities that humans really need to know, qualites that have been ignored for the last decade or so.


 * I've made some minor grammatical edits to reflect a print (hanging on the wall in front of me) by The Buzza Co. of Minneapolis. Buzza operated from 1907-1942, making this print at least 64 years old.  That certainly doesn't make it definitive, but I was annoyed enough by the differences to make the edits.  I've also reverted to &mdash; which had been removed by someone else (it may not be aesthetically pleasing, but it's correct).  --KeyboardOnHead 23:05, 4 October 2006 (UTC)


 * The thing is, those minor rules gradually change with time. For example, the line, "Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies" makes more sense when the comma is inserted: "Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies" ... but, the comma is less optional today than it was back then, so I guess we have to keep it out. Hanxu9 (talk) 17:24, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

An extract from this poem was used today at the funeral of the late Alan Ball (Football Legend). Upon discovering the whole writing, I can see that it is not only a beautiful piece, but a great lesson for us to live our lives - without fear. This piece was particularly apt in remembering such a great man, and I can only hope that such a profound piece can be used to remember me. For that to happen I need to start to live the way the poem describes. That is the hard part.

"Imposters" or "Impostors"
The latter is more common and used in inscriptions, so I think it's the correct version. Does anybody know for sure? --86.59.124.83 20:14, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

on its challenging nature
Not only is it a beautifull poem and incredibly clever it is a summation of almost all i need to be and do. such a challenge and at the end no doubt I will fail. As a christian I really value Gods word which would say a resounding yes to the poem and a little more, reminding me that Gods love captures me despite the fact that I will fail at many points. Nevertheless marvellous.