GO PLACIDLY amid the noise and the 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 to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or 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 as 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 dark 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 in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
By Max Ehrmann © 1927 Original text
Desiderata is Latin for “things desired”—not desirable but desired.
Author bio: Max Ehrmann (1872-1945) was of German descent, the son of Bavarian emigrants, an immigrant to the United States where he was educated at the Terre Haute Indiana Fourth District School and the German Methodist Church. He received a degree in English from De Pauw University and studied philosophy and law at Harvard University where he edited the Delta Tau Delta’s national Magazine. In 1937 Ehrmann received an honorary Doctor of of Letters from De Pauw University, and by 2010 Terre Haute honored him with a life-size bronze statue, posed with pen and pad as the writer.
Well, well, you can’t get much spark from Wikipedia, but isn’t it fun that this bright German immigrant from the Midwest, educated at la-dee-dah Hahvahd, frat boy, hoosier, Christian, employed as an attorney and businessman, produced such a grand corpus of material for which he is still admired—and remembered?
Good gawda’mighty, perhaps he should run for our highest office in 2020.
