WHATEVER ELSE YOU DO

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.

MAX EHRMANN