- Published on
The Swing
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside -
Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown -
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
Come and swing and play with me.
For youth is innocence,
And we are both free
To live and dream and be.
By Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was born on 13 November 1850 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He became an essayist, a novelist, a travel writer, a poet, and a lyricist. He is known as the author of the adventure novels “Treasure Island” (1883) and “Kidnapped” (1886), the science fiction novel, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (1886), and the poetry collection, “A Child’s Garden of Verses” (1885), all of which remain popular books even now with readers of all ages. Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson passed on at 44 years of age on 3 December 1894 in Vailima, Samoan Islands.
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside -
Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown -
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
Come and swing and play with me.
For youth is innocence,
And we are both free
To live and dream and be.
By Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was born on 13 November 1850 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He became an essayist, a novelist, a travel writer, a poet, and a lyricist. He is known as the author of the adventure novels “Treasure Island” (1883) and “Kidnapped” (1886), the science fiction novel, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (1886), and the poetry collection, “A Child’s Garden of Verses” (1885), all of which remain popular books even now with readers of all ages. Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson passed on at 44 years of age on 3 December 1894 in Vailima, Samoan Islands.
- Published on
Dress Up
Lipstick on my lips
and blush on my cheeks.
This is a game I love to play,
and one I could play for weeks.
Wearing mother’s big black shoes
and necklace of white pearl,
which comes complete with a dress
that flows as I twirl.
A special purse that I have filled with
so many treasures it’s hard for me to hold.
And I must not forget a big
fuzzy coat, just in case it’s cold.
My dress-up would not be through
without a set of keys,
and with this my wardrobe is complete
and I am very pleased.
By Wendy Silva
Lipstick on my lips
and blush on my cheeks.
This is a game I love to play,
and one I could play for weeks.
Wearing mother’s big black shoes
and necklace of white pearl,
which comes complete with a dress
that flows as I twirl.
A special purse that I have filled with
so many treasures it’s hard for me to hold.
And I must not forget a big
fuzzy coat, just in case it’s cold.
My dress-up would not be through
without a set of keys,
and with this my wardrobe is complete
and I am very pleased.
By Wendy Silva
- Published on
Little Fred
When little Fred
Was called to bed,
He always acted right;
He kissed Mama,
And then Papa,
And wished them all good-night.
He made no noise,
Like naughty boys,
But gently up the stairs
Directly went,
When he was sent,
And always said his prayers.
By Author Unknown
When little Fred
Was called to bed,
He always acted right;
He kissed Mama,
And then Papa,
And wished them all good-night.
He made no noise,
Like naughty boys,
But gently up the stairs
Directly went,
When he was sent,
And always said his prayers.
By Author Unknown
- Published on
My Shoelace Blues
I’ve tried and tried to tie you, shoe.
I’ve never done it yet.
A loop that flip-flops on the floor
Is as close as I can get.
I’ve practiced on spaghetti.
I’ve practiced on the mop.
I’ve practiced on my sister's hair
Until she made me stop.
So here’s the loop again, shoe.
I’ll hold it with my thumb.
I’ll wrap the other end around
And yank it into bows . . .
. . . it’s done!
By Author Unknown
This is MFOL! . . . where the journey to success begins with tying one’s shoelaces . . .
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read How To Be Successful Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.
I’ve tried and tried to tie you, shoe.
I’ve never done it yet.
A loop that flip-flops on the floor
Is as close as I can get.
I’ve practiced on spaghetti.
I’ve practiced on the mop.
I’ve practiced on my sister's hair
Until she made me stop.
So here’s the loop again, shoe.
I’ll hold it with my thumb.
I’ll wrap the other end around
And yank it into bows . . .
. . . it’s done!
By Author Unknown
This is MFOL! . . . where the journey to success begins with tying one’s shoelaces . . .
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read How To Be Successful Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.
- Published on
Two Wheels
I told you I won’t.
It’s too hard.
I told you I can’t.
It’s too hard.
Didn’t I tell you?
My feet, they won’t reach.
My hands, they won’t steer.
It’s too hard.
Watch out - I’m tipping.
Don’t let go - I’m falling.
Please; I give up.
Not so fast, not so fast.
I don’t like this.
Stop, stop, stop, stop.
Hey, I can’t stop.
Hey, I’m riding, I’m riding.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
Did you see me?
What did I tell you?
It was easy.
By Author Unknown
I told you I won’t.
It’s too hard.
I told you I can’t.
It’s too hard.
Didn’t I tell you?
My feet, they won’t reach.
My hands, they won’t steer.
It’s too hard.
Watch out - I’m tipping.
Don’t let go - I’m falling.
Please; I give up.
Not so fast, not so fast.
I don’t like this.
Stop, stop, stop, stop.
Hey, I can’t stop.
Hey, I’m riding, I’m riding.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
Did you see me?
What did I tell you?
It was easy.
By Author Unknown
- Published on
One Thing At A Time
Work while you work,
Play while you play;
That is the way
To be cheerful and gay.
All that you do,
Do with all your might;
Things done by halves
Are never done right.
One thing each time,
And that done well,
Is a very good rule,
As many can tell.
Moments are useless
Trifled away;
So work while you work
And play while you play.
By M. A. Stodart
Work while you work,
Play while you play;
That is the way
To be cheerful and gay.
All that you do,
Do with all your might;
Things done by halves
Are never done right.
One thing each time,
And that done well,
Is a very good rule,
As many can tell.
Moments are useless
Trifled away;
So work while you work
And play while you play.
By M. A. Stodart
- Published on
Best
I like to wear my party frock
That Auntie bought in town,
My patent shoes with shiny toes,
My Sunday hat with little bows,
And ribbons hanging down.
I like to hear the people say:
“How pretty Nancy looks to-day!”
But Daddy shakes his head and says:
“You’ll make her very vain.”
And Granny says: “She should be dressed
In everything that’s of the best
But rather neat and plain.”
And Mother says: “My goodness me!
Who can this lovely lady be?”
By Rose Fyleman
Rose Amy Fyleman was born on 6 March 1877 in Nottingham, England. She became a writer and a poet. She is known for her works for children, about fairies. Rose Amy Fyleman passed on at 80 years of age on 1 August 1957 in Saint Albans, Hertfordshire, England.
I like to wear my party frock
That Auntie bought in town,
My patent shoes with shiny toes,
My Sunday hat with little bows,
And ribbons hanging down.
I like to hear the people say:
“How pretty Nancy looks to-day!”
But Daddy shakes his head and says:
“You’ll make her very vain.”
And Granny says: “She should be dressed
In everything that’s of the best
But rather neat and plain.”
And Mother says: “My goodness me!
Who can this lovely lady be?”
By Rose Fyleman
Rose Amy Fyleman was born on 6 March 1877 in Nottingham, England. She became a writer and a poet. She is known for her works for children, about fairies. Rose Amy Fyleman passed on at 80 years of age on 1 August 1957 in Saint Albans, Hertfordshire, England.
- Published on
Kids Who Are Different
Here’s to the kids who are different,
The kids who don’t always get A’s.
The kids that have ears,
twice as big as their peers,
Or have noses that go on for days.
Here’s to the kids that are different,
The kids that are just out of step.
The kids they all tease,
Who have cuts on their knees,
And whose sneakers are constantly wet.
Here’s to the kids that are different,
The kids with a mischievous streak.
For when they have grown,
As history has shown,
It’s their difference that makes them unique.
By Digby Wolfe
James Digby Wolfe was born on 4 June 1929 in London, England. He became a television and movie actor, a screenwriter, and a lecturer in dramatic writing at university level. He worked in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States of America. James Digby Wolfe passed on at 82 years of age on 2 May 2012 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America.
Here’s to the kids who are different,
The kids who don’t always get A’s.
The kids that have ears,
twice as big as their peers,
Or have noses that go on for days.
Here’s to the kids that are different,
The kids that are just out of step.
The kids they all tease,
Who have cuts on their knees,
And whose sneakers are constantly wet.
Here’s to the kids that are different,
The kids with a mischievous streak.
For when they have grown,
As history has shown,
It’s their difference that makes them unique.
By Digby Wolfe
James Digby Wolfe was born on 4 June 1929 in London, England. He became a television and movie actor, a screenwriter, and a lecturer in dramatic writing at university level. He worked in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States of America. James Digby Wolfe passed on at 82 years of age on 2 May 2012 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America.
- Published on
“What a wonderful world it is that has boys in it!” -Author Unknown
“A boy is not a sitting-down animal.” -Robert Baden-Powell (Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (born Robert Stephenson Smyth (1857 - 1941)))
“A boy’s story is the best that is ever told.” -Charles Dickens (Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812 - 1870))
“When I was a boy, I saw myself as a hero in comic books and in movies. I grew up believing this dream.” -Elvis Presley (Elvis Aron Presley (1935 - 1977))
“A good boy will make a good man.” -Author Unknown: proverb
“There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy’s life when he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure.” -attributed to Mark Twain (pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 - 1910))
“A small boy, mischievous to the imp degree.” -Rea Murtha
“A boy is not a sitting-down animal.” -Robert Baden-Powell (Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (born Robert Stephenson Smyth (1857 - 1941)))
“A boy’s story is the best that is ever told.” -Charles Dickens (Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812 - 1870))
“When I was a boy, I saw myself as a hero in comic books and in movies. I grew up believing this dream.” -Elvis Presley (Elvis Aron Presley (1935 - 1977))
“A good boy will make a good man.” -Author Unknown: proverb
“There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy’s life when he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure.” -attributed to Mark Twain (pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 - 1910))
“A small boy, mischievous to the imp degree.” -Rea Murtha
What a Boy Is Worth
Nobody knows what a boy is worth,
A boy at his work or play;
A boy who whistles around the place
Or laughs in an artless way.
Nobody knows what a boy is worth,
And the world must wait and see,
For every man in an honored place
Is a boy that used to be.
Nobody knows what a boy is worth,
A boy with a face aglow,
For hid in his heart there are secrets deep
Not even the wisest know.
Nobody knows what a boy is worth,
A boy with his bare, shoeless feet,
So have a smile and a kindly word
For every boy you meet.
By Margaret Isabel: “The Challenge”
Nobody knows what a boy is worth,
A boy at his work or play;
A boy who whistles around the place
Or laughs in an artless way.
Nobody knows what a boy is worth,
And the world must wait and see,
For every man in an honored place
Is a boy that used to be.
Nobody knows what a boy is worth,
A boy with a face aglow,
For hid in his heart there are secrets deep
Not even the wisest know.
Nobody knows what a boy is worth,
A boy with his bare, shoeless feet,
So have a smile and a kindly word
For every boy you meet.
By Margaret Isabel: “The Challenge”
“A boy can learn a lot from a dog: obedience, loyalty, and the importance of turning around three times before lying down.” -Robert Benchley (Robert Charles Benchley (1889 - 1945))
“A boy is naturally full of humor.” -Robert Baden-Powell (Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (born Robert Stephenson Smyth (1857 - 1941)))
“Boy’s natural play is rough and tumble play, it’s the universal play of little boys. And it’s very different from aggression. And we are a society that’s failing to understand the distinction.” -Christina Hoff Sommers (Christina Marie Hoff Sommers (born 1950))
“See things from the boy’s point of view.” -Robert Baden-Powell (Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (born Robert Stephenson Smyth (1857 - 1941)))
“When I was a little boy, I wanted to be a baseball player and also join the circus. With the Yankees, I’ve accomplished both.” -Graig Nettles (born 1944)
“Loyalty is a feature in a boy’s character that inspires boundless hope.” -Robert Baden-Powell (Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (born Robert Stephenson Smyth (1857 - 1941)))
“A boy is naturally full of humor.” -Robert Baden-Powell (Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (born Robert Stephenson Smyth (1857 - 1941)))
“Boy’s natural play is rough and tumble play, it’s the universal play of little boys. And it’s very different from aggression. And we are a society that’s failing to understand the distinction.” -Christina Hoff Sommers (Christina Marie Hoff Sommers (born 1950))
“See things from the boy’s point of view.” -Robert Baden-Powell (Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (born Robert Stephenson Smyth (1857 - 1941)))
“When I was a little boy, I wanted to be a baseball player and also join the circus. With the Yankees, I’ve accomplished both.” -Graig Nettles (born 1944)
“Loyalty is a feature in a boy’s character that inspires boundless hope.” -Robert Baden-Powell (Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (born Robert Stephenson Smyth (1857 - 1941)))
“One of the best things in the world to be is a boy, it requires no experience, but needs some practice to be a good one.” -Charles Dudley Warner (1829 - 1900): as quoted in Herbert V. Prochnow and Herbert V. Prochnow, Junior, editors: “A Treasury of Humorous Quotations” (1969)
“I am a little boy but I am going to do something really big in times to come.” -Janaid Jamshed
“As our schools become more feelings centered, risk averse, competition-free, and sedentary, they move further and further from the characteristic sensibilities of boys.” -Christina Hoff Sommers (Christina Marie Hoff Sommers (born 1950)): “The War Against Boys” (2000)
“Small boys become big men through the influence of big men who care about small boys.” -Author Unknown
“Boys do not grow up gradually. They move forward in spurts like the hands of clocks in railway stations.” -Cyril Connolly
What are little boys made of
What are little boys made of
Snips & snails & puppy dogs tails
And such are little boys made of.
-Robert Southey (1774 - 1843)
“A boy is, of all wild beasts, the most difficult to manage.” -Plato (about 427 B.C.E. - about 347 B.C.E.): as quoted in Herbert V. Prochnow and Herbert V. Prochnow, Junior, editors: “A Treasury of Humorous Quotations” (1969)
“In America, any boy may become president and I suppose that’s just one of the risks he takes.” -Adlai Stevenson (Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (1900 - 1965)
“Boys are beyond the range of anybody’s sure understanding, at least when they are between the ages of 18 months and 90 years.” -James Thurber (1894 - 1961)
“Boy: Noise with dirt on it.” -Author Unknown
“Give a boy a dog and you’ve furnished him a playmate.” -Berton Braley (1882 - 1966)
Teddy Bears and Little Cars
When you have a baby boy,
you’re set for the years
of love and joy.
Teddy bears and little cars,
building blocks and bugs in jars.
A world of things
to see and do -
so many good times.
By Author Unknown
Boy’s Life Magazine website: www.BoysLife.org.
“A boy is supremely confident of his own power, and dislikes being treated as a child.” -Robert Baden-Powell (Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (born Robert Stephenson Smyth (1857 - 1941)))
“A fairly bright boy is far more intelligent and far better company than the average adult.” -J. B. S. Haldane (John Burden Sanderson Haldane (1892 - 1964)
“Boys are capital fellows in their own way, among their mates; but they are unwholesome companions for grown people.” -Charles Lamb (1775 - 1834)
“Give a small boy a hammer and he will find that everything he encounters needs pounding.” -Abraham Kaplan (1918 - 1993): “The Conduct of Inquiry: Methodology for Behavioral Science” (1964)
“Give a boy a hammer and chisel; show him how to use them; at once he begins to hack the doorposts, to take off the corners of shutter and window frames, until you teach him a better use for them, and how to keep his activity within bounds.” -Author Unknown: as quoted in “Once a Week” (1868) periodical of London, England
“It’s the merry-hearted boys that make the best men!” -Author Unknown: Irish proverb
“The little boy who goes to the store and forgets what his mother sent him for, will probably grow up to be a congressman.” -Evan Esar (born Esar Levine (1899 - 1995))
“With boys, you always know where you stand. Right in the path of a hurricane.” -Erma Bombeck (Erma Louise Bombeck (born Erma Louise Fiste (1927 - 1996)))
“Every puppy should have a boy.” -Erma Bombeck (Erma Louise Bombeck (born Erma Louise Fiste (1927 - 1996)))
“Fate has decreed that all lazy boys who come to hate books and schools and teachers and spend all their days with toys and games must sooner or later turn into donkeys.” -C. Collodi (Carlo Collodi (pseudonym of Carlo Lorenzini (1826 - 1890))): “The Adventures of Pinocchio” (1885)
“Prove yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish, and someday, you will be a real boy.” -Author Unknown: “Pinocchio” (7 February 1940) animation; line of character Blue Fairy (voiced by Evelyn Venable)
The word ‘boy’ has been in recorded use since C.E. 1154 as a descriptive term for a male child. The exact etymology of the word is unclear, but it is believed to have descended from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘boia’ meaning ‘servant’ or ‘farm worker.’
“A boy doesn’t have to go to war to be a hero; he can say he doesn’t like pie when he sees there isn’t enough to go around.” -Edgar W. Howe (Edgar Watson ‘Ed’ Howe, also known as E. W. Howe (1853 - 1937))
“Every time a boy shows his hands, someone suggests that he wash them.” -Edgar W. Howe (Edgar Watson ‘Ed’ Howe, also known as E. W. Howe (1853 - 1937)): as quoted in Herbert V. Prochnow and Herbert V. Prochnow, Junior, editors: “A Treasury of Humorous Quotations” (1969)
In some cultures, boys historically experienced a rite of passage that marked their transition into manhood. Examples of traditional rites of passage include a Bar Mitzvah in Judaism and a vision quest among some Native Americans. In most developed nations around the world today, a boy’s passage into manhood is marked by a mind-and-body-jarring enlistment in the military or employment in a labor-intensive job - for many boys-to-men, the transition from childhood to adulthood is no fun and without celebration. What can you do about this?
“Let us remember that a boy is the only known substance from which a man can be made.” -Thomas S. Monson (Thomas Spencer Monson (1927 - 2018))
“What is genius? - It is the power to be a boy again at will.” -James Matthew Barrie (1860 - 1937)
“Bear your burden manfully. Boys at school, young men who have exchanged boyish liberty for serious business, - all who have got a task to do, a work to finish - bear the burden till God gives the signal for repose - till the work is done, and the holiday is fairly earned.” -James Hamilton (1814 - 1871): as quoted in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert: “Dictionary of Burning Words of Brillian Writers” (1895), page 253
“Ah! happy years! once more who would not be a boy!” -George Gordon Noel Byron (also known as Lord Byron (1788 - 1824)): “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage,” Canto II (1812), Stanza 23
Perhaps there lives some dreamy boy, untaught
In schools, some graduate of the field or street,
Who shall become a master of the art,
An admiral sailing the high seas of thought
Fearless and first, and steering with his fleet
For lands not yet laid down in any chart.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882): “Possibilities”
We are MFOL! . . . powered by imagination . . .
“I am a little boy but I am going to do something really big in times to come.” -Janaid Jamshed
“As our schools become more feelings centered, risk averse, competition-free, and sedentary, they move further and further from the characteristic sensibilities of boys.” -Christina Hoff Sommers (Christina Marie Hoff Sommers (born 1950)): “The War Against Boys” (2000)
“Small boys become big men through the influence of big men who care about small boys.” -Author Unknown
“Boys do not grow up gradually. They move forward in spurts like the hands of clocks in railway stations.” -Cyril Connolly
What are little boys made of
What are little boys made of
Snips & snails & puppy dogs tails
And such are little boys made of.
-Robert Southey (1774 - 1843)
“A boy is, of all wild beasts, the most difficult to manage.” -Plato (about 427 B.C.E. - about 347 B.C.E.): as quoted in Herbert V. Prochnow and Herbert V. Prochnow, Junior, editors: “A Treasury of Humorous Quotations” (1969)
“In America, any boy may become president and I suppose that’s just one of the risks he takes.” -Adlai Stevenson (Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (1900 - 1965)
“Boys are beyond the range of anybody’s sure understanding, at least when they are between the ages of 18 months and 90 years.” -James Thurber (1894 - 1961)
“Boy: Noise with dirt on it.” -Author Unknown
“Give a boy a dog and you’ve furnished him a playmate.” -Berton Braley (1882 - 1966)
Teddy Bears and Little Cars
When you have a baby boy,
you’re set for the years
of love and joy.
Teddy bears and little cars,
building blocks and bugs in jars.
A world of things
to see and do -
so many good times.
By Author Unknown
Boy’s Life Magazine website: www.BoysLife.org.
“A boy is supremely confident of his own power, and dislikes being treated as a child.” -Robert Baden-Powell (Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (born Robert Stephenson Smyth (1857 - 1941)))
“A fairly bright boy is far more intelligent and far better company than the average adult.” -J. B. S. Haldane (John Burden Sanderson Haldane (1892 - 1964)
“Boys are capital fellows in their own way, among their mates; but they are unwholesome companions for grown people.” -Charles Lamb (1775 - 1834)
“Give a small boy a hammer and he will find that everything he encounters needs pounding.” -Abraham Kaplan (1918 - 1993): “The Conduct of Inquiry: Methodology for Behavioral Science” (1964)
“Give a boy a hammer and chisel; show him how to use them; at once he begins to hack the doorposts, to take off the corners of shutter and window frames, until you teach him a better use for them, and how to keep his activity within bounds.” -Author Unknown: as quoted in “Once a Week” (1868) periodical of London, England
“It’s the merry-hearted boys that make the best men!” -Author Unknown: Irish proverb
“The little boy who goes to the store and forgets what his mother sent him for, will probably grow up to be a congressman.” -Evan Esar (born Esar Levine (1899 - 1995))
“With boys, you always know where you stand. Right in the path of a hurricane.” -Erma Bombeck (Erma Louise Bombeck (born Erma Louise Fiste (1927 - 1996)))
“Every puppy should have a boy.” -Erma Bombeck (Erma Louise Bombeck (born Erma Louise Fiste (1927 - 1996)))
“Fate has decreed that all lazy boys who come to hate books and schools and teachers and spend all their days with toys and games must sooner or later turn into donkeys.” -C. Collodi (Carlo Collodi (pseudonym of Carlo Lorenzini (1826 - 1890))): “The Adventures of Pinocchio” (1885)
“Prove yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish, and someday, you will be a real boy.” -Author Unknown: “Pinocchio” (7 February 1940) animation; line of character Blue Fairy (voiced by Evelyn Venable)
The word ‘boy’ has been in recorded use since C.E. 1154 as a descriptive term for a male child. The exact etymology of the word is unclear, but it is believed to have descended from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘boia’ meaning ‘servant’ or ‘farm worker.’
“A boy doesn’t have to go to war to be a hero; he can say he doesn’t like pie when he sees there isn’t enough to go around.” -Edgar W. Howe (Edgar Watson ‘Ed’ Howe, also known as E. W. Howe (1853 - 1937))
“Every time a boy shows his hands, someone suggests that he wash them.” -Edgar W. Howe (Edgar Watson ‘Ed’ Howe, also known as E. W. Howe (1853 - 1937)): as quoted in Herbert V. Prochnow and Herbert V. Prochnow, Junior, editors: “A Treasury of Humorous Quotations” (1969)
In some cultures, boys historically experienced a rite of passage that marked their transition into manhood. Examples of traditional rites of passage include a Bar Mitzvah in Judaism and a vision quest among some Native Americans. In most developed nations around the world today, a boy’s passage into manhood is marked by a mind-and-body-jarring enlistment in the military or employment in a labor-intensive job - for many boys-to-men, the transition from childhood to adulthood is no fun and without celebration. What can you do about this?
“Let us remember that a boy is the only known substance from which a man can be made.” -Thomas S. Monson (Thomas Spencer Monson (1927 - 2018))
“What is genius? - It is the power to be a boy again at will.” -James Matthew Barrie (1860 - 1937)
“Bear your burden manfully. Boys at school, young men who have exchanged boyish liberty for serious business, - all who have got a task to do, a work to finish - bear the burden till God gives the signal for repose - till the work is done, and the holiday is fairly earned.” -James Hamilton (1814 - 1871): as quoted in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert: “Dictionary of Burning Words of Brillian Writers” (1895), page 253
“Ah! happy years! once more who would not be a boy!” -George Gordon Noel Byron (also known as Lord Byron (1788 - 1824)): “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage,” Canto II (1812), Stanza 23
Perhaps there lives some dreamy boy, untaught
In schools, some graduate of the field or street,
Who shall become a master of the art,
An admiral sailing the high seas of thought
Fearless and first, and steering with his fleet
For lands not yet laid down in any chart.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882): “Possibilities”
We are MFOL! . . . powered by imagination . . .
- Published on
Being Brave at Night
The other night ’bout two o’clock, or maybe it was three,
An elephant with shining tusks came chasing after me.
His trunk was wavin’ in the air an’ spoutin’ jets of steam
An’ he was out to eat me up, but still I didn’t scream
Or let him see that I was scared - a better thought I had,
I just escaped from where I was and crawled in bed with dad.
One time there was a giant who was horrible to see,
He had three heads and twenty arms, an’ he came after me
And red hot fire came from his mouths and every hand was red
And he declared he’d grind my bones and make them into bread.
But I was just too smart for him, I fooled him might bad,
Before his hands could collar me I crawled in bed with dad.
I ain’t scared of nothin’ that comes pesterin’ me at night.
Once I was chased by forty ghosts all shimmery an’ white.
An’ I just raced ’em round the room an’ let ’em think maybe
I’d have to stop an’ rest awhile, when they could capture me.
Then when they leapt onto my bed, Oh Gee! but they were mad
To find that I had slipped away an’ crawled in bed with dad.
No giants, ghosts or elephants have dared to come in there
’Coz if they did he’d beat ’em up and chase ’em to their lair.
They just hang ’round the children’s rooms an’ snap an’ snarl an’ bite
An’ laugh if they can make ’em yell for help with all their might.
But I don’t ever yell out loud. I’m not that sort of lad,
I slip from out the covers and I crawl in bed with dad.
by Edgar A. Guest: “Rhymes of Childhood” (1924)
Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest was born on 20 August 1881 in Birmingham, England. He immigrated with his family to the United States of America in 1891. From his first published work in the “Detroit Free Press” until his passing in 1959, he penned some 11,000 poems that were syndicated in 300 newspapers and collected into more than twenty books. Mr. Guest is reputed to have had a new poem published in a newspaper every day for more than thirty years. He became known as ‘The People’s Poet,’ writing poems that were of a sentimental and optimistic nature. Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest passed on at 77 years of age on 5 August 1959 in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America.
The other night ’bout two o’clock, or maybe it was three,
An elephant with shining tusks came chasing after me.
His trunk was wavin’ in the air an’ spoutin’ jets of steam
An’ he was out to eat me up, but still I didn’t scream
Or let him see that I was scared - a better thought I had,
I just escaped from where I was and crawled in bed with dad.
One time there was a giant who was horrible to see,
He had three heads and twenty arms, an’ he came after me
And red hot fire came from his mouths and every hand was red
And he declared he’d grind my bones and make them into bread.
But I was just too smart for him, I fooled him might bad,
Before his hands could collar me I crawled in bed with dad.
I ain’t scared of nothin’ that comes pesterin’ me at night.
Once I was chased by forty ghosts all shimmery an’ white.
An’ I just raced ’em round the room an’ let ’em think maybe
I’d have to stop an’ rest awhile, when they could capture me.
Then when they leapt onto my bed, Oh Gee! but they were mad
To find that I had slipped away an’ crawled in bed with dad.
No giants, ghosts or elephants have dared to come in there
’Coz if they did he’d beat ’em up and chase ’em to their lair.
They just hang ’round the children’s rooms an’ snap an’ snarl an’ bite
An’ laugh if they can make ’em yell for help with all their might.
But I don’t ever yell out loud. I’m not that sort of lad,
I slip from out the covers and I crawl in bed with dad.
by Edgar A. Guest: “Rhymes of Childhood” (1924)
Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest was born on 20 August 1881 in Birmingham, England. He immigrated with his family to the United States of America in 1891. From his first published work in the “Detroit Free Press” until his passing in 1959, he penned some 11,000 poems that were syndicated in 300 newspapers and collected into more than twenty books. Mr. Guest is reputed to have had a new poem published in a newspaper every day for more than thirty years. He became known as ‘The People’s Poet,’ writing poems that were of a sentimental and optimistic nature. Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest passed on at 77 years of age on 5 August 1959 in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America.
