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Desiderata



Desiderata

~ Max Ehrmann ~

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 the 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 live, keep peace with your soul.

With all its shams, drudgery,
And broken dreams,
It is still a beautiful world.

Strive to be Happy.

Who wrote Desiderata?

In 1921, Max Ehrmann wrote in his diary, "I should like, if I could, to leave a humble gift -- a bit of chaste prose that had caught up some noble moods". The result was Desiderata which was originally untitled. He wrote it in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Who owns Desiderata?

The copyright to Desiderata is released in the public domain - anyone can use it.

1927: Mr. Ehrmann actually did obtain a federal copyright (No. 962402) on January 3, 1927.
1945: On his death in 1945, that copyright was bequeathed to his widow, Bertha.
1954: Bertha Ehrmann renewed the copyright in 1954.
1962: Upon her death in 1962, Bertha bequeathed the copyright to her nephew Richmond Wight.
1971: In 1971, Richmond Wight assigned the copyright for value to the Crescendo Publishing Co. which was headed by Robert Bell.

Another publishing company, Combined Registry Co. published Desiderata and Robert Bell then instituted a lawsuit against them. However the court found in favour of the defendant, Combined Registry Co. The court found that even though Max Ehrmann had secured legal copyright and properly renewed them, he had however never properly or otherwise attached copyright notices to the copies of Desiderata which he released for public domain.

Why was it thought that Desiderata was associated with a church and was older than it actually is?

Sometime between the years 1952 and 1956, a Rev. Frederick Kates, dean of St. John's Cathedral of Spokane, Washington came across a copy of Desiderata which had no copyright notice.

On June 1, 1956 Rev. Kates became the rector of St. Paul's Church, Baltimore. This church was founded in 1692. In 1959 or 1960, in the Lenten season, Rev. Kate included Desiderata on a sheet of devotional material which he passed out to about 200 members of his congregation. At the top of this handout was the notation: "Old St. Paul's Church, Baltimore A.C. 1692". This explains the erroneous attribution with respect to the origins of Desiderata that appeared on so many publications of this poem.






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