POETRY SPOT - THINKING

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I mentioned yesterday that when it comes to poems, I’m a bit of a sucker for sentimentality and for what might today be considered corny. To borrow a line from ‘Yes, Virginia., There is a Santa Clause’, people today have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. William Faulkner once said that ‘If a writer has to rob his mother, he will not hesitate; the "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is worth any number of old ladies.’ I disagree, you can keep odes on Grecian urns and instead give me a man from Snowy River, a cremation of Sam McGee and a one eyed yellow idol north of Khatmandu.

It is in that vein that I post an inspirational poem.

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"Thinking" is a poem written by Walter D. Wintle, a poet who lived in the late 19th and early 20th century. Little to nothing is known about any details of his life. "Thinking" is also known as "The Man Who Thinks He Can".

Different versions of the poem have been published. To this date, it is unknown which version correctly represents the original version, but it is believed that the version below from 1905 embodies the original and unaltered poem.

Later sources gave this poem, which originally carried the title "Thinking", the title "The Man Who Thinks He Can" and "It's All In The State Of Mind". In recent years the title "The Man Who Thinks He Can" has been adapted as the (wrongfully) assumed correct and original title.

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If you think you are beaten, you are;

If you think you dare not, you don't.

If you'd like to win, but you think you can't,

It is almost a cinch you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you've lost;

For out in this world we find

Success begins with a fellow's will

It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are;

You've got to think high to rise.

You've got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win the prize.

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man;

But sooner or later the man who wins

Is the man who thinks he can!

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