Might, Could, Would—
They are contemptible auxiliaries.²
Listen to the MUSTN’TS and listen to the DON’TS
Listen to the SHOULDN’TS listen to the WON’TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES then listen close to me—
Anything can happen, ANYTHING can be—³
Endeavor is the Eternal Way, neglect is the
Way to death: they who spur themselves on
Happily never die, but they who wallow
Self-indulgently, even though they have
Life—are as if Dead already.⁴
Lead on where you would have us Go!⁵
Great men leave the path of tradition and obedient
Subordination, trust to supreme, indefinable Powers—and
Strike out on new, trackless courses where experience is no guide—⁶
Joyous we launch on trackless seas, fearless for unknown
Shores on waves of ecstasy to sail—for we’re bound
Where mariner hasn’t yet dared go:
Risk ship, ourselves and all!⁷
Try not—Do! Or do not—there is no try.⁸
Step forth in Splendor—Mortify your wolves—⁹
They may shoot us with their words,
They may cut us with their eyes,
They may kill us with their hatefulness—
But still, like air, we Rise.¹⁰
¹ Emily Dickinson, Finite to Fail
² George Eliot, Middlemarch
³ Shel Silverstein, Listen to the Mustn’ts
⁴ Dhammapada Verse 21 tr. unknown
⁵ Homer tr. Samuel Butler, The Iliad
⁶ Hermann Hesse tr. Richard & Clara Winston, Magister Ludi
⁷ Walt Whitman, Passage to India
⁸ Leigh Brackett & Lawrence Kasdan, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
⁹ Gwendolyn Brooks, God Works in a Mysterious Way
¹⁰ Maya Angelou, Still I Rise