Posted by Poetry Alley

Four be the things I am wiser to know: Idleness, sorrow, a friend, and a foe.
Four be the things I’d been better without: Love, curiosity, freckles, and doubt.
Three be the things I shall never attain: Envy, content, and sufficient champagne.
Three be the things I shall have till I die: Laughter and hope and a sock in the eye.

Dorothy Parker (1893 – 1967) Born Dorothy Rothschild, was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist with a reputation for sharp wit. Some of her works have been set to music. The Poem "Inventory" was published in 1926 and it is now in the Public domain