The stick-together families are happier by far
than the brothers and the sisters who
take separate highways are.
The gladdest people living are
the wholesome folks who make
a circle at the fireside that
no power but death can break.
And the finest of conventions ever held
beneath the sun
are the little family gatherings when
the busy day is done.

There are rich folk,
there are poor folk, who
imagine they are wise,
and they are very quick to shatter
all the little family ties.
Each goes searching after pleasure
in his own selected way,
each with strangers likes to wander,
and with strangers likes to play.
But it's bitterness they harvest,
and it's empty joy they find,
For the children that are wisest
are the stick-together kind.

How to Be Cheerful / Edgar Guest