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 “IF”

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!

-          Rudyard Kipling

We reproduce this poem here because it describes the characteristics of the archetypal Briton that all true English speaking people aspire to, characteristics which are admired and emulated the world over. It has been said that to be born British is to be born a winner in the lottery of life. The individual described in the poem is able to walk the earth and experience all that it has to offer and yet remain untouched in his essential self by any of it. His characteristic virtues are those of a true Englishman; personal integrity, courage and humility, respect for authority and the symbols of the law, and eagerness for excellence. This British spirit is what keeps us all together in these tight genius-illuminated little islands and makes the intrinsic blood-born British different from all other nationalities.

This British spirit has informed the invention of most of the games that are played in every country in the world. Sport has its inviolable rules based on the concept of fair play which must be strictly adhered to; and if broken then only the perpetrator will suffer. A level playing field means that both protagonists have an equal chance to win, and adherence to sport has repeatedly united divisions between countries and religions, transcending the political sabre-rattling of the day. In Britain the population lives by the intrinsic rules of sport, whatever religion they belong to.

This British spirit will not permit bargaining or haggling. British people will always pay the asking price. The concept of bargaining is fundamentally dishonest, in that the vendor asks for more than his commodity is worth, and the purchaser is obliged to attempt to cheat the vendor into accepting less than the value of the commodity. This behaviour is an anathema to the British spirit because it leads to corruption on the highest levels where everything, even the law, is negotiable.

This British spirit always respects authority and it knows that the uniform and regalia and what it represents is always greater than the man or woman inside it. In other countries the man is greater than the uniform and is therefore always susceptible to corruption and indeed this has become the accepted norm. Other nationalities may be said to have souls but the world has one demonstrable spirit and it is the indomitable British spirit. It is the soul that causes war by its diversity in the world; spirit on the other hand accepts that we are all intrinsically the same, ignores emotion, and produces system rather than religion. System gives us art and science and law, the foundation of civilisation, the right way to behave. Religion through the apparent diversity of soul gives conflict and corruption. Soul protests, spirit acts, but the spirit is closer to God than the soul.

This British spirit is reflected in the fact that there is no national costume, Britons can .clothe themselves as they will and play any part with consummate ease. They are justifiably proud of themselves by virtue of the dazzling array of heroic archetypes in their national consciousness, informed by the British spirit; from King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table to Sir Ernest Shackleton, every type of hero is represented; from the tragic Scott of the Antarctic, the misunderstood Richard III, the romantic Robin Hood, to the justified Admiral Lord Nelson.

This British spirit permeates the history of the world, distinguishing its people by their respect for their enemies and constant seeking to protect the underdog and the weak against the strong. Their Heraldic Beasts are the Lion and the Unicorn, Strength and Purity. Recently their language was identified as the language of the stars and the Company of Heaven. Indeed the sons of Albion are (instinctively at least) natural-born magicians.