He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction. To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
[published 11/30/1905 in the Lincoln (Kansas) Sentinel by Bessie Stanley - an adaptation of this is often attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, though nothing like it has been found in his writings.]
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