Poems (Hoffman)/Think for Yourself
THINK FOR YOURSELF
How many we meet as we travel alongWho go with the tide of the popular throng,What other men think, they think, and no more,What other men do, doing, they are secure;So on with the current they eddy and whirl,Never pausing to look for Truth's beautiful pearl;But what if Galileo long years agoHad not dared to steer 'gainst the tide's changeless flow?And oh! what if Luther had gone with the tideAnd done what they did, and done nothing beside?And what if Columbus had buried his lightAnd let the world grope in its ignorant night,Because all alone, he with Truth had to stand,Where now might have languished our beautiful land?What banner of Truth over error would waveIf none ever dared false opinion to brave?But they clung to their pearls while the mocking crowd passedAnd Truth twined for them fadeless laurels at last.And many another whose name is forgotBut whose thoughts, words, and deeds into sunbeams are wrought,That stream down the ages to light some dark placeOr shine like the stars on a benighted race;So whate'er you do, though you travel alone,Think for yourself, have a mind of your own;For the thoughts we are thinking must fashion the world,And if false, or if true, they shall sometime be hurledFar out of our reach down the centuries' flight;As clouds to their day, or as stars to their night.