--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Osmond, Alfred collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 14 number: 4 published: 1911-02 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Alfred Osmond, "Do the Thing You Know Is Right," *Improvement Era* 14, no. 4 (February 1911): 287.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1404unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera1404unse start_page: 287 end_page: 287 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1911-02) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1404unse publication_year: 1911 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1911, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Do the Thing You Know Is Right Far beyond the darkling storm-clouds Glows a brilliant orb of light, And the God of all the ages Bids thee do the thing that's right. Sensuous sins have robbed thy spirit Of its radiant light divine; Worldly gods torment and tear it. Through thy worship at their shrine. Awful is the state of bondage That thy fondest hopes will blight — You can never be a freeman Till you do the thing that's right. Men may talk of worldly glory, i^nd the dread of princely power, They may fret, and fume, and bluster, Till their weaklings cringe and cower; But the man with one conviction That is born of truth and light, Leads his forces on to conquer, When he wields the sword of right. In the name of all the heroes Who have fought for freedom's cause, In the name of saints and sages, Who received God's righteous laws, In the name of bleeding martyrs, And the hosts of angels bright, I demand of thee, my brother, Do the thing you know is right. Far beyond thy ken of vision, Far beyond thy fancy's flights, Shines the sun of true advancement O'er a vale of sweet delights. Linger not, my fallen brother, In these dreary vales of night — Burst thv fetters! "Be a hero!" Do the thing you know is right. Alfred Osmond. Pkovo. U.ah