Charles Munger, Jr.

Invictus
 
I drop the burden I cannot carry,       
I bend my knee when I cannot stand.  
I pray to God when I must cry out,  
I believe because I must.  
 
So many lives of toil and darkness,
Poor wronged who died wronged,               
Their stories lost, their names forgotten?
I believe because I must.
 
As for me, what have I not done,
So many my crimes, and wasted years?       
Is there hope for even such as I?       
I believe because I must.    
 
Some speak of God Almighty           
As they would a familiar friend.   
Not for me their simple story.   
I believe because I must.   
      
As I die I will surely wonder   
If my whole life was lived for naught.        
Who will bear me across that river?
I believe because I must.
 
Over Jordan, the holy city,     
The light of God, the sound of trumps;         
Do I hear the angels singing welcome?
I believe because I must.

Charles Munger is an experimental physicist who advises the California State Board of Education on its mathematics and its science curriculum.