True Happiness

In the book, George Washington: A Life by Willard Sterne Randall, the author tells of a poem found in George's childhood school papers, that may have hinted of a yearning, even as a child, for a quiet home life. I found the poem beautiful and wanted to share it with you.

True Happiness

These are the things which, once possesed,

Will make a life that’s truly blessed:

A good estate on healthy soil

Not got by vice, nor yet by toil:

Round a warm fire, a pleasant joke,

With chimney ever free from smoke:

A strength entire, a sparkling bowl,

A quiet wife, a quiet soul,

A mind as well as body whole:

Prudent simplicity, constant friends,

A diet which no art commends:

A merry night without much drinking,

A happy thought without much thinking:

Each night by quiet sleep made short,

A will to be but what thou art:

Possessed of these, all else defy,

And neither wish nor fear to die.