If Nobody Smiled

If nobody smiled, and nobody cared,
And nobody helped us along;
If every fellow looked out for himself,
And the good things all went to the strong;
If nobody cared just a little for you,
And nobody thought about me,
And we stood all alone in the battle of life,
What a dreary old world this would be!

Life is sweet because of the friends we love,
And the things that in common we share;
And we want to live on, not because of ourselves,
But because of the people who care.
It’s giving and doing for somebody else–
On that all of life’s splendor depends;
And the joy in this world, when you’ve summed it all up,
Is found in the love of our friends.
-Arthur James Hayden