TRAINING OF A CHAMPION
by: Horatio Richard Palmer – 1887
You’re starting, my boy, on life’s journey, Along the grand highway of life;
You’ll meet with a thousand temptations. Each city with evil is rife.
This world is a stage of excitement, There’s danger wherever you go;
But if you are tempted to weakness, Have courage, my boy, to say No!
In courage, my boy, alone lies your safety, When you the long journey begin,
Your trust in a heavenly Father,
Will keep you unspotted from sin. Temptations will go on increasing, . .
As streams from a rivulet flow;
But if you’d be true to your manhood, Have courage, my boy, to say No!
Be careful in choosing companions,
Seek only the brave and the true,
And stand by your friends when in trial, Ne’er changing the old for the new;
And when by false friends you are tempted The taste of the wine cup to know,
With firmness, with patience and kindness, Have courage, my boy, to say No!’