Poems for Young People

ADVICE TO THE YOUNG

Be true to your eyes, ears, thoughts, and feelings;

Listen to your heart but yield to your mind’s best

Judgment;

Be kind and wise in spoken words, for surely your

Words will follow you;

Be not afraid of risks but be cautious of actions

Driven by emotion, confusion, and false friends;

Avoid jealousy of others’ achievements and possessions;

Don’t live with an insatiable greed for more than

You can appreciate or use;

Don’t eat more than your hunger’s call or

Drink beyond your thirst’s needs;

Listen to spirits that favor you and offend not

Those that oppose you;

Absorb yourself in an activity worthy of your unique

Talent, and develop as many common

Potentialities as you desire and can;

Whatever you do, do it as well as you can;

Live comfortably with your conscience,

And be at peace with your soul;

Be courageous in life, while always respecting

Death’s luring and lurking;

Rest when tired and think when you are uncertain;

Be kind to the sacredness of life and respect the

Natural order of the universe;

Follow no one or no thing except your own judgment

And your own divine wish;

Love and respect yourself and your family;

Be all you can by developing yourself;

Do all you can in helping worthy others;

And live a quality and meaningful life.

THE IMPORTANCE OF IMPORTANCE

It’s not so important to be liked,

But to like yourself;

It’s not so important to be good,

But to be better;

It’s not so important to receive respect from others,

But to earn respect for yourself;

It’s not so important to spend money on a person,

But to spend quality time with a person;

It’s not important to be important,

But to be appreciated.

A FRIEND

A friend is

Special for you

And not against you;

Being a friend is in

One’s state of mind,

One’s state of action—

That special one who thinks and acts

For another’s happiness,

For another’s welfare;

Being a friend is giving of self

With joy;

Being a friend is receiving from another

With appreciation;

Being a friend is wanting to be a friend.