Explore "Be Not Content" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Be not content-contentment means inaction; / The growing soul aches on its upward quest; / Satiety is twin to satisfaction; / All great achievements spring from life's unrest.
The tiny roots, deep in the dark mould hiding, / Would never bless the earth with leaf and flower / Were not an inborn restlessness abiding / In seed and germ, to stir them with its power.
Were man contented with his lot forever, / He had not sought strange seas with sails unfurled, / And the vast wonder of our shores had never / Dawned on the gaze of an admiring world.
Prize what is yours, but be not quite contented. / There is a healthful restlessness of soul / By which a mighty purpose is augmented / In urging men to reach a higher goal.
So when the restless impulse rises, driving / Your calm content before it, do not grieve; / It is the upward reaching of the spirit / Of the God in you to achieve-achieve.