Desiderata

Latin for "desired things"

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others, even dull and ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater
and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love for in the
face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in
sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself
with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue
and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace with your soul.

With all its shams, drudgery,
and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.

Strive to be happy.





The Author: Originally attributed to an unknown author and found in
Old Saint Paul's Church,
Baltimore, U.S.A.
Dated 1692
I've received the following e-mail stating otherwise. Regardless of it's source, it's the words that really matter to us.

"Desiderata" was written in 1927 by Max Ehrmann (1872-1945). In 1956, the rector of Baltimore's St. Paul's Church anthologized the poem in a mimeographed pamphlet of inspirational writings for his congregation. Someone reprinting it later, separated from its original credit, erroneously described it as having been found in old St. Paul's Church dated 1692, misinterpreting the church letterhead. The year 1692 is in fact the founding date of St. Paul's Church and has nothing to do with the poem.

"Desiderata" (Latin for "desired things", plural of desideratum) is an inspirational prose poem about attaining happiness in life.

In the 1960s it was widely circulated without attribution to Ehrmann, sometimes with the claim that it was found in St. Paul's Church, Baltimore, Maryland, and was written in 1692 (the year of the founding of St. Paul's). Nevertheless, the estate of Ehrmann has kept various editions of the work in print. A spoken-word recording of the essay was made by Les Crane and reached #8 on the Billboard magazine charts in late 1971.

At least one court case has held the poem to be forfeited to the public domain because of distribution during and before World War II, but other cases have ruled that the assignee through Ehrmann's heirs holds the purchased copyright.



Max Ehrmann was an attorney turned philosopher-poet who live in Terre Haute, Ind. He spent his life wrestling with the realities of making a living and following his personal calling to a life of poetry, literature, and thought. He wrote A Prayer, which became a message of hope for thousands, but he is best known for Desiderata, which he wrote for himself, "because it counsels those virtues I felt myself most in need of." Max included this work as part of a personal Christmas greeting in 1933, and Desiderata's power and appeal have continued to reach out to and significantly affect readers ever since.
He died in 1945.




~ the poem ~

Mr. Ehrmann obtained a federal copyright (NO. 962402) on January 3, 1927. The copyright was bequeath to his widow, Bertha, upon his death in 1945. Bertha Ehrmann renewed the copyright in 1954, then bequeath it to her nephew, Richmond Wight, upon her death in 1962. Richmond Wight assigned the copyright for value to the Crescendo Publishing Co. in 1971 headed by Robert Bell. Books containing Desiderata are published by Crown Publishers and can be obtained through bookstores.

Further reading on these issues can be found at the following:
--http://www.snopes.com/spoons/fracture/desidera.htm
--http://doe.state.in.us/LearningResources/ehrmann
--http://www.amherst.edu/~tssulliv/school.html
--http://www.ucolick.org/~sla/desidhis.html
--http://www.dfw.net/~custmbld/desid2.html
--http://www.janics.com/~pitz1/desiderata.html
--http://www.barreto.com/desiderata2.htm
--http://www.zilker.net/~lswote/desiderata.html
--Indiana Media Journal, Fall/Winter 1997 Vol. 20 No. 1-2
--Bell vs. Combined Registry Co. 1975 court records