Child! do not Throw this Book about

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Child! do not throw this book about; Refrain from the unholy pleasureOf cutting all the pictures out! Preserve it as your chiefest treasure.

Child, have you never heard it said That you are heir to all the ages?Why, then, your hands were never made To tear these beautiful thick pages!

Your little hands were made to take The better things and leave the worse ones.They also may be used to shake The Massive Paws of Elder Persons.

And when your prayers complete the day, Darling, your little tiny handsWere also made, I think, to pray For men that lose their fairylands.

© Hilaire Belloc