Leaving Cert Notes

Notes and Anki Decks for the Leaving Cert

If

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 by 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 lose 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!

Stanza 1

Keep calm, don’t lose your temper even when others are losing theirs, blaming it on you. Hold firm in your beliefs, trust your instincts, even when others dought you you, forgive those who dought you. Don’t lie because someone else lies about you and don’t hate because you are hated. Be modest, don’t try to always to be like the one to get the last word, or looks the wisest.

Stanza 2

Don’t get lost in your dreams, dream but make those dreams reality. Make plans and follow through. Be gracious when winning or losing. Don’t react if you hear the words you said twisted and distorted to entice others to react against you. Be the type of person that when faced with adversity can start over again and rebuild, their lives.

Stanza 3

Don’t let money be everything, don’t let it determine your happiness. Don’t complain about money you have lost.