There are substitutes for coffee; there are substitutes for tea;
But there’s none for right, or honor, love, or truth, or liberty.
There are substitutes for honey; there are substitutes for soap;
But there’s none for peace, or kindness, or the clinging ray of hope.
There are substitutes for paper; there are substitutes for wheat;
But there’s none for little children with their tiny, toddling feet.
There are substitutes for leather and materials of dress;
But there’s none for kindly service or a heart of happiness.
There are substitutes for butter; there are substitutes for cream;
But there’s none for aspiration or the wonder of a dream.
There are substitutes for beefsteak; there are substitutes for bread;
But none for the vanished sweetness of a moment that has fled.
There are substitutes for jewels; there are substitutes for gold;
But there’s none for honest thinking or for friendship tried and old.
There are substitutes for rubber and the shining of the sun;
But there’s none for love-lit firesides or the sense of duty done.