Be The Best of Whatever You Are

If you can’t be a pine o the sop of the hill,

Be a scrub in the valley – but be

The little scrub by the side of the hill;

Be a bush if you can’t be a tree

If you can’t be a bush be a bit of the grass

And some highway happier make

If you can’t be a muskie then just be a bass

But the leveliest bass in the lake

We can.t all be captains, we’ve got to be crew

There’s something for all of us here

There’s big work to do, and there’s lesser to do

And the task you must do is the near

If you can’t be a highway the just be a trail

If you can’t be the sun, be a star

It isn’t by size you win or you fail

Be the best of whatever you are

By Douglas Malloch (1936)