Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Robert W. Service (Canadian Poet)

Robert William Service (1874–1958) was a British-Canadian poet and writer best known for his narrative poems about the Yukon and the Klondike Gold Rush. Dubbed “the Canadian Kipling,” he was celebrated for his ballads of the “frozen North,” such as The Shooting of Dan McGrew.

Born in Preston, Lancashire, England, Service moved to Canada in 1904 and worked as a bank clerk in the Yukon. The harsh, remote environment deeply influenced his writing, inspiring vivid portrayals of life during the Klondike Gold Rush.

His most famous work, The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses (1907,) features the popular poem The Cremation of Sam McGee, known for its dark humor and adventurous tone. The 1910 collection Ballads of a Cheechako further showcases his talent for capturing the rugged beauty and challenges of the northern frontier.

Service also authored prose works, including The Trail of ’98 (1910,) a semi-autobiographical novel about prospectors’ experiences during the Gold Rush. His dramatic, accessible style appealed to both popular audiences and literary critics. Later in life, he lived in France and the United States but always retained a fondness for the Yukon.

More: Wikipedia READ: Works by Robert W. Service

It’s a different song when everything’s wrong, when you’re feeling infernally mortal; when it’s ten against one, and hope there is none, buck up, little soldier, and chortle!
Robert W. Service
Topics: Adversity

Ah! the clock is always slow; it is later than you think.
Robert W. Service
Topics: Time, Time Management, Value of Time

My pipe is out, my glass is dry;
My fire is almost ashes too;
But once again, before you go,
And I prepare to meet the New;
Old Year! a parting word that’s true,
For we’ve been comrades, you and I—
I thank God for each day of you;
There! bless you now! Old Year, good-bye!
Robert W. Service
Topics: Time

It’s the plugging away that will win you the day
So don’t be a piker old pard!
Just draw on your grit; it’s so easy to quit.
It’s the keeping your chin up that’s hard.
Robert W. Service
Topics: Resolve, Perseverance, Endurance

A promise made is a debt unpaid.
Robert W. Service
Topics: Promises

Some praise the Lord for Light,
The living spark;
I thank God for the Night
The healing dark.
Robert W. Service
Topics: Sleep

Old Year! upon the Stage of Time You stand to bow your last adieu; A moment, and the prompter’s chime Will ring the curtain down on you.
Robert W. Service
Topics: Progress

The happy man is he who knows his limitations, yet bows to no false gods.
Robert W. Service
Topics: Self-Knowledge, Awareness

Why seek to scale Mount Everest,
Queen of the Air,
Why strive to crown that cruel crest
And deathward dare?
Said Mallory of dauntless quest
‘Because it’s there.’
Robert W. Service
Topics: Discovery

It isn’t the mountain ahead that wears you out; it’s the grain of sand in your shoe.
Robert W. Service
Topics: Challenges, Perspective

There’s a land where the mountains are nameless, And the rivers all run God knows where; There are lives that are erring and aimless, And deaths that just hang by a hair; There are hardships that nobody reckons; There’s a land – oh, it beckons and beckons, And I want to go back – and I will.
Robert W. Service
Topics: Wilderness, Travel

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