To Those Who Forge

So,
you want to know how to succeed
in this life.
You want to know
the biggest secret
that all of those
who have claimed fame
money
and power
know?
Well,
I’ll tell you.
The one that gets up
will be helped up,
as will the one who does not get up
will be allowed
to stay down.
Our individual independence
is a solemn virtue
of which births
the sturdiest soul.
There can be no sign of this independence,
however,
without an enormous share
of self-reliance,
and perhaps the greatest secret of all
is that this
cannot
be bestowed.
It must be developed
from within.

~LT