Today, I’m passing along a poem I found in William J. Bennett’s The Book of Virtues, a marvelous collection of writings from he compiled for children on the subjects of self-discipline, compassion, responsibility, friendship, work, courage, perseverance, honesty, loyalty and faith.  These stories and poems are not just for children. They are for all people everywhere. The following poem, “Truth Never Dies”, does not name the author but I found these words so comforting in its assertion that truth is eternal. More than a comfort, it is also a call to embrace truth and pass it on, friend to friend, teacher to student, parent to child.  When tempted to despair, remember these words . . .

Truth never dies.  The ages come and go.

The mountains wear away, the stars retire.

Destruction lays earth’s mighty cities low;

And empires, states and dynasties expire;

But caught and handed onward by the wise,

Truth never dies.

Though unreceived and scoffed at through the years;

Though made the butt of ridicule and jest;

Though held aloft for mockery and jeers,

Denied by those of transient power possessed,

Insulted by the insolence of lies,

Truth never dies.

It answers not.  It does not take offense,

But with a mighty silence bides its time;

As some great cliff that braves the elements

And lifts through all the storms its head sublime,

It ever stands, uplifted by the wise;

And never dies.

As rests the Sphinx amid Egyptian sands;

As looms on high the snowy peak and crest;

As firm and patient as Gibraltar stands,

So truth, unwearied, waits the era blessed

When men shall turn to it with great surprise.

Truth never dies.