Here’s to the men who lose!
What though their work be e’er so nobly planned,
And watched with zealous care,
No glorious halo crowns their efforts grand;
Contempt is failure’s share.
Here’s to the men who lose!
If triumph’s easy smile our struggles greet,
Courage is easy then;
The king is he who, after fierce defeat,
Can up and fight again.
Here’s to the men who lose!
The ready plaudits of a fawning world
Ring sweet in victors’ ears,
The vanquished’s banners never are unfurled;
For them sound no cheers.
Here’s to the men who lose!
The touchstone of true worth is not success;
There is a higher test —
Though fate may darkly frown, onward to press,
And bravely do one’s best.
Here’s to the men who lose!
It is the vanquished’s praise that I sing,
And this is the toast I choose:
‘A hard-fought failure is a noble thing!
Here’s to the men who lose!’
-George L. Scarborough
