(no subject)

[cinema_babe]

Desiderata (Excerpts)
by Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence....

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....

[F]or 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 with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

As much of an snarling, cynical wretch as I might seem to be, I have carried this poem with me in one form or another everywhere I have lived since I was 12 or 13. For all of the horrible, incomprehensible things that make us shake our fists at the sky and say, "Why, damn you, why?" it is still a beautiful world and a glorious life and we only get one ride on the carousel and the brass ring sometimes wears a disguise.

Comments

[jungianslip.livejournal.com]

You know, this poem first became known to me this past October, after mysterious circumstances which still continue to unfold.

I don't think it was all coincidence.

[catwithbell.livejournal.com]

My copy has photographs of cats. It makes me happy.

[cinema-babe.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think I acquired my first one (one of those weird foil paintings) sometime around 77ish. As hippyish as I parts of this are that last paragraph always gets me right where it counts.

[the-nibbler609.livejournal.com]

I know the poem well. My cousin (for whatever reason) has always had a copy of that poem hanging in her bathroom. Best spot to think, really...