I never found any use for birth or birthdays, dear comrades, till I knew what it was to love:I could not tell how successful my life is by the number of those who love me: I could only tell that by the number of those I love:I am victorious only when I have won my love of you from myself: winning your love of me from you is not enough:And so this day though you may not gather me to you I gather you to me, body and spirit:And so this day I count myself up, not in figures but in love, and say forgiving and jubilant things to my soul about us all.
I never found any use for birth or birthdays, dear comrades, till I knew what it was to love:
I could not tell how successful my life is by the number of those who love me: I could only tell that by the number of those I love:
I am victorious only when I have won my love of you from myself: winning your love of me from you is not enough:
And so this day though you may not gather me to you I gather you to me, body and spirit:
And so this day I count myself up, not in figures but in love, and say forgiving and jubilant things to my soul about us all.