If you sit down at the set of sun
And count the acts that you have done,
And counting, find
One-self denying deed, one word
[That eased the heart of him who heard],
One glance most kind
That fell like sunshine where it went-
Then you may count that day well spent.
But if, through all the livelong day,
You've cheered no heart, by yea or nay-
If, through it all
[You've nothing done that you can trace]
That brought the sunshine to one face-
No act most s.m.a.l.l
That helped some soul and nothing cost-
Then count the day as worse than lost.
-Count That Day Lost by George Eliot