Piet Hein
Eradicate the optimist
who takes the easy view
that human values will persist
no matter what we do.
Annihilate the pessimist
whose ineffectual cry
is that the goal's already missed
however hard we try.
Why not let us compromise
about Denmark's proper size,
which will truly please us all,
since it's bigger than it's small.
One paramount truth
our society smothers
in petty concern
with position and pelf:
It isn't enough
to exasperate others;
you've got to remember
to gladden yourself.
Men, said the Devil,
are good to their brothers:
they don’t want to mend
their own ways, but each others.
Anxieties yield
at a negative rate,
increasing in smallness
the longer they wait.
He that lets
the small things bind him
leaves the great
undone behind him.
Power corrupts,
whereas sound opposition
builds up our free
democratic tradition.
One thing would make
a democracy flower:
having a strong opposition-
in power.
Love while you've got
love to give.
Live while you've got
life to live.
He who aims
to keep abreast
is for ever
second best.
If virtue
can't be mine alone
at least my faults
can be my own.
The universe may
be as great as they say.
But it wouldn't be missed
if it didn't exist.
Naive you are
if you believe
life favours those
who aren't naive.