Unimportant Differences

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If he is honest, kindly, true,
  And glad to work from day to day;
If when his bit of toil is through
  With children he will stoop to play;
If he does always what he can
  To serve another's time of need,
Then I shall hail him as a man
  And never ask him what's his creed.

If he respects a woman's name
  And guards her from all thoughtless jeers;
If he is glad to play life's game
  And not risk all to get the cheers;
If he disdains to win by bluff
  And scorns to gain by shady tricks,
I hold that he is good enough
  Regardless of his politics.

If he is glad his much to share
  With them who little here possess,
If he will stand by what is fair
  And not desert to claim success,
If he will leave a smile behind
  As he proceeds from place to place,
He has the proper frame of mind,
  And I won't stop to ask his race.

For when at last life's battle ends
  And all the troops are called on high
We shall discover many friends
  That thoughtlessly we journeyed by.
And we shall learn that God above
  Has judged His creatures by their deeds,
That millions there have won His love
  Who spoke in different tongues and creeds.

© Edgar Albert Guest