Somebody scoffed:  “Oh, you’ll never do that;
    At least no one ever has done it”;
  But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
    And the first thing we knew he’d begun it. 
  With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
    Without any doubting or quiddit,
  He started to sing as he tackled the thing
    That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

  There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
    There are thousands to prophesy failure;
  There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
    The dangers that wait to assail you. 
  But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
    Just take off your coat and go to it;
  Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
    That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.

Edgar A. Guest.

From “The Path to Home.”

THE WELCOME MAN

There’s a man in the world who is never turned down, wherever he chances to stray; he gets the glad hand in the populous town, or out where the farmers make hay; he’s greeted with pleasure on deserts of sand, and deep in the aisles of the woods; wherever he goes there’s the welcoming hand—­he’s The Man Who Delivers the Goods.  The failures of life sit around and complain; the gods haven’t treated them white; they’ve lost their umbrellas whenever there’s rain, and they haven’t their lanterns at night; men tire of the failures who fill with their sighs the air of their own neighborhoods; there’s one who is greeted with love-lighted eyes—­he’s The Man Who Delivers the Goods.  One fellow is lazy, and watches the clock, and waits for the whistle to blow; and one has a hammer, with which he will knock, and one tells a story of woe; and one, if requested to travel a mile, will measure the perches and roods; but one does his stunt with a whistle or smile—­he’s The Man Who Delivers the Goods.  One man is afraid that he’ll labor too hard—­the world isn’t yearning for such; and one man is always alert, on his guard, lest he put in a minute too much; and one has a grouch or a temper that’s bad, and one is a creature of moods; so it’s hey for the joyous and rollicking lad—­for the One Who Delivers the Goods!

Walt Mason.

From “Walt Mason, His Book.”

THE QUITTER

In the famous naval duel between the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis, John Paul Jones was hailed by his adversary to know whether he struck his colors.  “I have not yet begun to fight,” was his answer.  When the surrender took place, it was not Jones’s ship that became the prize of war.  Everybody admires a hard fighter—­the man who takes buffets standing up, and in a spirit of “Never say die” is always ready for more.