p. 8 | Work for Small Men by Sam Walter Foss

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Feb 27, 1912

Work for Small Men

By Sam Walter Foss

Don't hate your neighbor if his creed With your own doctrine fails to fit; The chances that you both are wrong, You know, are well-nigh infinite. Don't fancy, 'mid a million worlds That fill the silent dome of night, The gleams of all pure truth converge Within the focus of your sight; For this, my friend, is not the work for you; So leave all this for smaller men to do.

Don't hate men when their hands are hard, And patches make their garments whole; A man whose clothes are spick and span May wear big patches on his soul. Don't hate a man because his coat Does not conform to fashion's art; A man may wear a full-dress suit, And have a ragamuffin heart. This, my good friend, is not the work for you; So leave all this for smaller men to do.

Despise not any man that lives, Alien or neighbor, near or far; Go out beneath the scornful stars, And see how very small you are. The world is large and space is high That sweeps around our little ken; But there's no space or time to spare In which to hate our fellow men. And this, my friend, is not the work for you; Then leave all this for smaller men to do.

Sam Walter Foss.