To Walk with Kings

I memorized a poem when I was twelve years old. And one line from that poem reappeared to my memory like an unexpected but welcome visitor when I reached the peak of my education. The poem was “If—” by Rudyard Kipling. The line:

—or walk with kings, nor lose the common touch.

This line by itself is not a complete thought; but within the poem, it exhibits potency. Kipling’s poem lists a series of qualities, or tests, which, if one achieves, shall allow him to inherit the earth, “and what is more”, truly be a Man.