The Right Kind of People – Edwin Markham (1852-1940)

A wise poem that has quite a good fit for the average Internet forum. Received this morning in my inbox from The Art of Manliness web site.

The Right Kind of People
by Edwin Markham

Gone the city, gone the day,
Yet still the story and the meaning stay:
Once where a prophet in the palm shade basked,
A traveler chanced at noon to rest his mules.
“What sort of people may they be,” he asked,
“in this proud city on the plains o’erspread?”
“Well, friend, what sort of people whence you came?”
“What sort?” the packman scowled; “why, knaves and fools!”
“You’ll find the people here the same,” the wise man said.

Another stranger in the dusk drew near,
And pausing, cried, “What sort of people here
in your bright city where yon towers arise?”
“Well, friend, what sort of people whence you came?”
“What sort?” the pilgrim smiled with lifted head;
“Good, true, and wise.”
“You’ll find the people here the same,”
The wise man said.