The Hard-Work Plan
From the lowest depths of poverty
To the highest heights of fame,
From obscureness of position
To a bright and shining name,
From the mass of human beings
Who compose the common clan,
You can earn your way to greatness
By the Hard-Work Plan.
’Twas the key to Lincoln’s progress,
’Twas the route to Webster’s fame;
And Garfield by this method
To distinction laid his claim;
And all earth’s noblest heroes,
Since this old world first began,
Have earned their way to honor
By the Hard-Work Plan.
I knew a rich old banker’s son
Who had no aim in view
But just to sit around and loaf;
’Twas all he had to do.
“The old man,” he said, “will keep me,”
And “I don’t have to pay.”
He earns his bread and butter now
At fifty cents a day.
And then I knew another lad;
His folks had money, too;
He didn’t sit around and “loaf,”
But found some work to do.
The neighbors all were proud of him;
Said they: “He’ll make a man.”
He earned his way to greatness
By the Hard-Work Plan.
Go read the lives of men of note,
Consider their success;
What gave them wealth and eminence?
Did luck or genius bless?
Biography will tell us that
The race through which they ran
Was the contest known to history
As the Hard-Work Plan.
Don’t worry over genius;
Don’t say you have no brain;
Don’t sit and watch the stars of hope
Till the clouds bring up a rain;
But up and toil along the road,
And travel with the van,
And earn your way to greatness
By the Hard-Work Plan.
by Jonathan Jones
From the lowest depths of poverty
To the highest heights of fame,
From obscureness of position
To a bright and shining name,
From the mass of human beings
Who compose the common clan,
You can earn your way to greatness
By the Hard-Work Plan.
’Twas the key to Lincoln’s progress,
’Twas the route to Webster’s fame;
And Garfield by this method
To distinction laid his claim;
And all earth’s noblest heroes,
Since this old world first began,
Have earned their way to honor
By the Hard-Work Plan.
I knew a rich old banker’s son
Who had no aim in view
But just to sit around and loaf;
’Twas all he had to do.
“The old man,” he said, “will keep me,”
And “I don’t have to pay.”
He earns his bread and butter now
At fifty cents a day.
And then I knew another lad;
His folks had money, too;
He didn’t sit around and “loaf,”
But found some work to do.
The neighbors all were proud of him;
Said they: “He’ll make a man.”
He earned his way to greatness
By the Hard-Work Plan.
Go read the lives of men of note,
Consider their success;
What gave them wealth and eminence?
Did luck or genius bless?
Biography will tell us that
The race through which they ran
Was the contest known to history
As the Hard-Work Plan.
Don’t worry over genius;
Don’t say you have no brain;
Don’t sit and watch the stars of hope
Till the clouds bring up a rain;
But up and toil along the road,
And travel with the van,
And earn your way to greatness
By the Hard-Work Plan.
by Jonathan Jones
