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Be a friend. You don't need money:
Just a disposition sunny;
Just the wish to help another
Get along some way or other;
Just a kindly hand extended
Out to one who's unbefriended;
Just the will to give or lend,
This will make you someone's friend.
Be a friend. You don't need glory.
Friendship is a simple story.
Pass by trifling errors blindly,
Gaze on honest effort kindly,
Cheer the youth who's bravely trying,
Pity him who's sadly sighing;
Just a little labor spend
On the duties of a friend.
Be a friend. The pay is bigger
(Though not written by a figure)
Than is earned by people clever
In what's merely self-endeavor.
You'll have friends instead of neighbors
For the profits of your labors;
You'll be richer in the end
Than a prince, if you're a friend.
This poem is in the public domain.
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Edgar Guest (1881 - 1959) was born in England, but moved with his family to Detroit, Michigan, when he was ten years old. He worked for more than sixty years at the Detroit Free Press, publishing his first poem at the age of seventeen, then going on to become a reporter and columnist whose work was featured in hundreds of newspapers around the country. Edgar is said to have written some 11,000 poems during his lifetime, most of it sentimental, short, upbeat verse. Critics often derided his work, but America adored him. He was known as the "People's Poet," served as Michigan's poet laureate, hosted a long-running radio show and TV show, and published more than twenty books.
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paradea:
My mother always said "You've got to be a friend, to have a friend". Many people called her 'friend'. I love this poem!
Posted 11/05/2016 08:10 AM
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transitions:
Always honest and earnest and all could/can understand. No wonder he was so popular :)
Posted 11/04/2016 11:21 AM
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ElizabethP:
Truth! Thanks for sharing...
Posted 11/04/2016 09:33 AM
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cork:
I grew up in the Detroit metropolitan area and was exposed to Edgar's poetry at an early age. He has been a great influence on my own writing.
Posted 11/04/2016 07:53 AM
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Newf:
Just wonderful!
Posted 11/04/2016 04:53 AM
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