Invictus

by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how straight the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

If

By Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

The Test of a Man

The test of a man is the fight that he makes
the grit that he daily shows
The way he stands upon his feet and takes
life’s numerous bumps and blows

A coward can smile when there’s naught to fear
and noting his progress bars
But it takes a man to stand and cheer,
while the other fellow stars

It isn’t the victory after all
but the fight that a brother makes
A man when driven against the wall,
still stands erect and takes

The blows of fate with his head held high,
,bleeding, and bruised and pale
Is the man who will win and fate defied
for he isn’t afraid to fail

House of Alpha

by Brother Sydney P. Brown

Goodwill is the monarch of this house. Men, unacquainted, enter, shake hands, exchange greetings and depart friends. Cordiality exists among all who abide within.
I am the eminent expression of friendship. Character and temperament change under my dominant power. Lives once touched by me become tuned and are thereafter amiable, kindly, fraternal.
I inspire the musician to play noble sentiments and assist the chemist to convert ungenerous personalities into individuals of great worth. I destroy all ignoble impulses. I constantly invoke principles which make for common brotherhood and the echo resounds in all communities and princely men are thereby recognized. Education, health, music, encouragement, sympathy, laughter - all these are species of interest given on self-invested capital.
Tired moments find me a delightful treat, hours of sorrow, a shrine of understanding at all times, I am faithful the creed of companionship.
To a few, I am the castle of dreams-ambitious, successful, hopeful dreams. To many, I am the poetic palace where human feeling is rhymed to celestial motives; to the great majority, I am the treasury of good fellowship.
In fact, I am the college of friendship; the university of brotherly love; the school for the better making of men
I am Alpha Phi Alpha

The Man Who, Thinks He Can

by Walter D. Wintle

If you think your beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you’d like to win but think you can’t
Its almost a cinch you won’t

If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost.
For out in this world you’ll find
Success begins with with a fellows will;
It’s all in the state of mind

If you think you’re outclassed, you are:
You’ve got to think high to rise.
You’ve got to be sure in yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battle always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
is the one who thins he can.