From the Evening Star, August 10, 1914. By Philander Johnson.
My Uncle Jim looked kind o’ proud.
I asked him for the reason—
You know how he kin hold a crowd
In any sort o’ season.
Said he, “I DO feel proud today.
My words, I’ve learned to weigh ‘em.
I thought of several things to say
An’ then I didn’t say ‘em.
“It’s easy to blaze forth an’ give
A wild illumination
An’ smite the folks who seem to live
In undeserved elation.
But words like those go oft astray.
It’s better to delay ‘em,
An’ think about the things you say
Before you really say ‘em.
It’s hard to judge your fellow-men
An’ allus pick the winners.
We praise the guilty now an’ then
An’ picture saints as sinners.
I’ll brag a little if I may.
My foes, no more I flay ‘em.
I’ve thought of several things to say
An’ then I didn’t say ‘em.
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