Live well, Laugh often, and Love much
I've wondered where this wonderful saying originated, and found it at yahoo answers and Wikipedia. You can read more about it at Wikipedia.
This poem was written in 1904 by Elisabeth-Anne "Bessie" Anderson Stanley for a contest held in Brown Book Magazine.
- He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much;
- Who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children;
- Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;
- Who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it;
- Who has left the world better than he found it,
- Whether an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;
- Who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had;
- Whose life was an inspiration;
- Whose memory a benediction.
5 comments:
Hi LadyBanana,
Yes, indeed! ;o)
She must have been inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson who wrote something very, very similar!
Hi dcr,
Ah, my Wikipedia link wasn't working, but I just fixed it. Wikipedia says that this poem is "often incorrectly misattributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson or Robert Louis Stevenson)."..."Ann Landers, (and her sister Abby) are also said to have misattributed the poem to Emerson and her concession to a public correction is in The Ann Landers Encyclopedia."
As I said, though, Emerson wrote something similar. Here is his original quote:
"“To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!”
Hi dcr,
Hm, it does sound similar. But I like the way that she phrases it better.
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