Explore "Earnestness" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The hurry of the times affects us so / In this swift rushing hour, we crowd and press / And thrust each other backward as we go, / And do not pause to lay sufficient stress / Upon that good, strong, true word, Earnestness.
In our impetuous haste, could we but know / Its full, deep meaning, its vast import, oh, / Then might we grasp the secret of success! / In that receding age when men were great, / The bone and sinew of their purpose lay / In this one word. God likes an earnest soul -- / Too earnest to be eager. Soon or late / It leaves the spent horde breathless by the way, / And stands serene, triumphant at the goal.