You’re start­ing, my boy, on life’s jour­ney,
Along the grand high­way of life;
You’ll meet with a thou­sand temp­ta­tions—
Each ci­ty with ev­il is rife.
This world is a stage of ex­cite­ment,
There’s dan­ger wher­ev­er you go;
But if you are tempt­ed to weak­ness,
Have cour­age, my boy, to say No!

Refrain

Have cour­age, my boy, to say No!
Have cour­age, my boy, to say No!
Have cour­age, my boy,
Have cour­age, my boy,
Have cour­age, my boy, to say No!

In cour­age, my boy, lies your safe­ty,
When you the long jour­ney begin,
Your trust in a heav­en­ly Fa­ther
Will keep you un­spot­ted from sin.
Temptations will go on in­creas­ing,
As streams from a ri­vu­let flow;
But if you’d be true to your man­hood,
Have cour­age, my boy, to say No!

Refrain

Be care­ful in choos­ing com­panions,
Seek on­ly the brave and the true,
And stand by your friends when in tri­al,
Ne’er chang­ing the old for the new;
And when by false friends you are tempt­ed
The taste of the wine cup to know,
With firm­ness, with pa­tience and kind­ness,
Have cour­age, my boy, to say No!

Refrain