The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own…
Epictetus
Ah, my first post of 2022. Time has slipped away from me in the beautiful chaos that has been the last few months, I realize this site is overdue for a major overhaul. Between frustrating job searches and returning to in-person activities around the city, I have over 30 drafts for The Adamant Rant that awaits a publish, one day at a time. I finally hit that rut, the writer’s ever damning wall of disinterest and diminishing of skill (a skill diminished by a lack of motivation to read, specifically). This post is one of many a series I will use to revive my interest in the written arts in the form of Rapid Fire blogging; i.e. short reviews.
I started reading through older poetry, hoping to find something profound that would inspire my mind. I found this in William Blake’s works, melancholy as they are. Yet I remembered an echo of a poem in the back of my head from my early years: “If” from Rudyard Kipling.
Excerpted below:
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
Kipling’s poem is a beautifully written lyric embodying the ideal “manly” behavior in Victorian England, known in socially difficult times to remain taut and strong in adversity. The message in stoicism seeks first to identify one’s morality, the core of what it means to be human in the world, followed by being a man navigating the rough world. Kipling offers this message to his son, John – a child in 1895 – to train him to survive and most importantly, address concerns of self-doubt. How one can remain honorable when times, people and events test our patience, our strength, our sanity. The poem is a playbook for the lifelong learner, educating one to face the tides of life and how to remain strong.
Stoicism is the name of the game in Victorian England, decidedly connected to Aurelius’ “Meditations.” Specifically, Kipling does not advise on happiness attainment like Aurelius, but both share common ground on the state of the mind, in finding internal strength through external calamity:
You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations. 1811 English translation.
In both texts a man is encouraged to uphold humility within his social station and remaining calm.
To use the phrase “If” at the beginning of each stanza proposes freedom of choice not in the situation we face, but in how we react to them. Now, one understandably would panic or be in distress when their lives are in turmoil, yet Kipling holds hope that one in control of their emotions could respond “to triumph and disaster” in equal measure if they are truly ready to take the world. If we can react with indifference to the incandescent chaos, surely that marks the powerful Man. Beyond male, female, anything in between or outside the spectrum, “If” defines the human beyond pain, beyond shame and dismissive of petty words. One who is undeterred by the constant changes life provides us.
In an Out-of-Control World, Know Where You Stand
Stated before, but I feel it is the most crucial theme of Kipling’s lessons in reaction. Self-restraint reaches us that we are capable of folly, that we may face troubles ranging from life-threatening to stressing to asinine. Of all our flaws, how do we respond to them? How often do we face issues with indifference, ready to tackle the problems as they come? Victorian Stoicism implies this is not a natural strategy, but taught through life experience and observed wisdom.
Per the first stanza:
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
To echo the early 2010’s memes, keep calm and cool when the rest of the world has gone to hell. When the ship begins to sink, keep calm. Accusations, being hated and critiqued are easy ways to get riled up and angry, clouding our judgment. This is classic Stoicism to keep one’s head when your peers fold under the pressure, where trust comes from our own moral compass, not the loyalties, strengths and affections of others.
“If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too” marks a call to the past, which instructs us to be confident and receptive to criticisms; to block the words of others would make us ignorant and thus undeserving of humility and empathy. Not that the world would owe one empathy, yet one who rises above Man’s emotional impulses would take the best of criticisms and improve themselves when possible. If someone hates you senselessly, these words are worthless toward your development and should be discarded. Likewise, be wise, don’t talk wise. I take this last bit personally, as former mentors simply told me “it’s better to be smart than to try and sound smart.” predictably, arrogance is a vice for our personal and social development.
On Common Sense: How we Meet our Problems
A bit of context/fun fact; I originally read this quote in a Shadow of the Colossus clone game called “Heir” on a flash game website, to describe a young warrior’s path to save his kingdom by destroying animated golems. At 11-12 years old, the one stanza given impacted me and shaped my behavior toward others, having watched innocent statues perish on my quest in servitude to a cold, uncaring king.
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;
I remember keenly the “Disaster” on my screen, leaving me aching as I grew up in a much darker world than I remembered. Kipling tells, almost teaches us, that responses to situations should not alter our actions or beliefs if there is no sound response.
The first four lines of the second stanza speaks of the imaginative, curious mind. Imagination is best tempered by reason and logic, tainted most by a wandering mind. Yet, we are not robots ordered by these facets of humanity. We are prone to chaos and disorder, and to accept the good and bad of ourselves and our world should be met with equanimity.
Our reactions and common sense are often clouded by those who have wronged us, and how we react may be worse than the wronging itself. This includes being able to see and hear the worst of words and chasing the truth anyway. Being overjoyed at success and depressed at failure are what make us the average human, yet Kipling and stoicism insist that we remain neutral and react bravely. Thinking and imagination must be followed up by productive action, not daydreaming. Cleave to truth, reveal your virtues through the work preceding you. After all, disinterest is better than non-engagement, and it is superior to volatile behavior. Kipling’s argument that triumph and disaster can be met the same is born from our reactions to it; the same anxious feeling we feel in our stomachs is the same feeling we get when we are courageous and brave, thus should be reacted to indifferently.
O’ Grant Me Strength to Stand Tall
Kipling’s third stanza brings up willpower. The sheer force that lets us wake up every day and do what must be done. This is important to our survival and separates us from the common beast; where our bodies are weak, our minds are the true power in our lives, and with the strongest mind shaped with history and experience, there is nothing we cannot face.
Observing Kipling’s third stanza:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
Kipling begins to get serious in how we ought to react to the world around us. If we can keep secret our recklessness and losing what we have while remaining tall and holding on and speaking without pretentiousness, we can face anyone. We may grow up believing we are invincible, that we can take anything life has. Life then turns around and knocks us on our ass, painfully reminding us that we are mortal, that we are flawed and can be hurt at any inconvenience. While I would never encourage people to gamble away their savings on a possible win, I agree with Kipling’s advice that after every loss, rise, dust yourself off and try again within reason. Do not let your losses define you.
Navigate Our Cruel World, Virtuously
Morality and ethics we hold define us, and dictate our behavior. Morals guide us and offer a sense of right and wrong in hopes to find others who align with these values, and we shape our morals to accept or reject inconsistencies between and against our moral code. Kipling calls on this understanding to inspire strength in his reader through his stanza:
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
To persevere in the face of danger and triumph, remaining strong against the words, facing the best with humility and self control are basic moral tenets of Stoicism and Kipling’s personal philosophy. Be genuine and modest when you are walking the crowds or beside a great king or queen. People are not livestock and should not be treated as such when we move to a higher social stratification in our lives. Forgive others for their faults and wrongs, yet take responsibility for our own happiness without depending on others for it. This comes off as selfish and dismissive of the plight of people, since we are a social people who need interaction and certain dependencies to survive; stoicism is representative of Mushin – the Empty Mind (無心) – to ensure the mind does not conjure distracting or heinous thoughts that would take away his/hers/their pursuit of relative comfort. Thus, care for yourself without investing too much brain power toward dependence.
To You, My Son
At times I wonder what I would say to my children, the advice I would give to them. Beyond perseverance and tips to remaining calm, helping them navigate the world with practical, applicable examples to scenarios would be helpful. I am not there yet, but someday I hope to emulate the same energy Kipling uses in his final stanza:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
Kipling speaks to his “son”, likely using the reader or the son as mutual replacements. The poem may have been written for Kipling’s son, but could also refer to humanity as a whole. Given his The Jungle Book and fondness for his children and children’s literature, it is no stretch to mark this a cautionary tale to his young son, designed as a bildungsroman based on Kipling’s own upbringing. Likewise, the mind is hailed as ruling the body and its reactions. Mastering the emotional impulse brings us closer to the world and becomes a “man.” This is dependent on the person in question being virtuous and strong, capable of being the sole good figure in their life regardless of their surroundings. Be yourself first, and be the best you can be within limits and with understanding of our behavior, and a life led by sound decision making will organically follow.
Kipling’s works remind me ever so of Walter Pater, aesthete scholar touting “art for art’s sake” to allow others to live and let live. Kipling seems to want the same, but nudges us to be better. Does this advisory piece hold up in 2022? Surely not behind a phone or computer screen, but it does apply now that we are returning to face the world in-person during this international pandemic. Though stoicism is not as ideal today as it was in war and classist-torn Victorian England at the start of the 20th century, there is sound advice in finding balance between what we think, what we feel and how we meet these.
While I do not always agree with Kipling’s personal views or sentiments – looking at “White Man’s Burden” – what makes this poem shine is the exceptional thumb on the zeitgeist, the containment and expression of the overall human experience. A ton goes into our personal development, the least we can do is be aware of it.
Works Cited
Aurelius, Marcus. Emperor of Rome, 121-180. The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. Mount Vernon [N.Y.] Peter Pauper Press, 1942
Kipling, Rudyard (1910). Rewards and Fairies (First ed.). London: Macmillan.