You may bring to your office,
and put in a frame, a motto as fine as its paint,
but if you're a crook when you're playing the game,
that motto won't make you a saint.
You can stick up the placards all over the wall,
but here is a word I announce:
It is not the motto that hangs on the wall,
but the motto you live, that counts.
If the motto says, "Smile," and you carry a frown:
"Do it now," and you linger and wait;
if the motto says "Help," and you trample men down;
if the motto says, "Love," and you hate--
you won't get away with the mottoes you stall,
for truth will come forth with a bounce.
It is not the motto that hangs on the wall,
but the motto you live, that counts.
For the tree is known and recognized and judged by its fruit.
Matthew 12:33
