A MAN CAN’T READ HIS TOMBSTONE WHEN HE’S DEAD

When, with pleasure, you are viewing

Any work a man is doing

And you like him, or you love him,

Tell him now.

Do not withhold your approbation

‘Til the parson makes oration

And he lies with snowy lilies on his brow.

For no matter how you shout it

He won’t know a thing about it;

He won’t know the many tear drops that you shed,

If you think that praise is due him,

Now’s the time to give it to him.

Cause a man can’t read his tombstone when he’d dead.

More than fame and more than money

Is your word both kind and sunny

And the hearty, warm approval of a friend.

It gives to life a savor

Makes us stronger, and yes, braver

And it gives us true encouragement to the end.

If he wins your praise, bestow it;

If you like him, let him know it.

Let the words of true encouragement be said.

Do not wait ‘til life is over,

And he lies beneath the clover,

Cause a man can’t read his tombstone when he’s dead. 

Author unknown