maggot1148

"Laugh, and the world laughs with you,
   Weep, and you weep alone,
For the brave old earth must borrow its mirth--
   It has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer,
   Sigh, and 'tis lost on the air;
The echoes rebound to a joyful sound
   And shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you,
   Grieve, and they turn and go;
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
   But they do not want your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many,
   Be sad, and you lose them all;
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
   But alone you must drink life's gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded,
   Fast, and the world goes by;
Forget and forgive--it helps you to live,
   But no man can help you die!
There is room in the limits of pleasure
   For a long and lordly train,
But, one by one, we must all march on
   Through the narrow aisle of pain."

                               -Ella Wheeler Wilcox