• I have to live with myself, and so,
    I want to be fit for myself to know;
    I want to be able as days go by,
    Always to look myself straight in the eye;
    I don't want to stand with the setting sun
    And hate myself for the things I've done.
    I don't want to keep on a closet shelf
    A lot of secrets about myself,
    And fool myself as I come and go
    Into thinking that nobody else will know
    The kind of person I really am;
    I don't want to dress myself up in sham.
    I want to deserve all others' respect;
    But here in this struggle for fame and weath,
    I want to be able to like myself.
    I don't want to think as I come and go
    That I'm for bluster and bluff an empty show.
    I never can hide myself from me,
    I see what others may never see,
    I know what others may never know,
    I never can fool myself -- and so,
    Whatever happens, I want to be
    Self-respecting and conscience free