A Nation's Strength

"What makes a nation's pillars high
And it's foundations strong?
What makes it mighty to defy...
The foes that round it throng?

It is not gold.
Its kingdoms grand,
Go down in battle shock;
Its shafts are laid on sinking sand,
Not on abiding rock.
Is it the sword?
Ask the red dust,
Of empires passed away;
The blood has turned their stones to rust,
Their glory to decay.

And is it pride?

Ah, that bright crownHas seemed to nations sweet;
But God has struck its luster downIn ashes at his feet.
Not gold but only men can makeA people great and strong;
Men who for truth and honor's sake,
Stand fast and suffer long.
Brave men who work while others sleep,
Who dare while others fly...
They build a nation's pillars deep
And lift them to the sky."

....Ralph Waldo Emerson