Whatever Else You Do

Whatever else you do or forbear,

impose upon yourself the task of happiness

and now and then abandon yourself

to the joy of laughter.

And however much you condemn the evil in the world,

remember that the world is not all evil;

that somewhere children are at play,

as you yourself in the old days;

that women still find joy in the stalwart hearts of men;

And that men,

treading with restless feet their many paths,

may yet find refuge from the storms of the world

in the cheerful house of love.