1976 edition of the desiderata of happiness poetry collection

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. Max Ehrmann of Terre Haute, Indiana , wrote the work in the early s, starting in , but he did not use any title. He registered for his US copyright in via its first phrase.

The April 5, issue of Michigan Tradesman magazine No. In he distributed the poem in the form of a Christmas card, [1] evidently entitling it "Desiderata" because a few days later he wrote in his Journal that a Kansas editor criticized his "Desiderata". The version was in the form of one long prose paragraph, so earlier and later versions were presumably also in that form.

Long after the author's death in , hence not authorized by him, the work was partitioned into subparagraphs or stanzas. The text was widely distributed in poster form in the s and s. On January 3, , Ehrmann registered "Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, etc. In or , the Reverend Frederick Kates, rector of Saint Paul's Church in Baltimore, Maryland , included "Desiderata" in a compilation of devotional materials for his congregation.

The compilation included the church's foundation date, "Old Saint Paul's Church, Baltimore AD ," which readers subsequently took, and sometimes still do take, to be the date of the poem's composition. In , Robert L. Bell acquired the publishing rights from Bruce Humphries Publishing Company, where he was president, and then bought the copyright from Richard Wright, nephew and heir to the Ehrmann works.

In August , the poem was published in Success Unlimited magazine, without permission from Robert L. In a lawsuit against the magazine's publisher, Combined Registry Co.

Because the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, the decision was only valid in the Seventh's jurisdiction, the states of Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. Consequently, Bell continued to pursue others in other jurisdictions, either demanding they remove the poem from their publications, giving permission for a small portion to be published, or receiving royalties until his death in This article is about the poem.

For other uses, see Desiderata disambiguation. Combined Registry Co. Court, ND Illinois " Duke Ellington DJ Shadow!!! Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? History Talk 0. This article is about the poem. For other uses, see Desiderata disambiguation. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. 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. August TWA Ambassador. Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. Library of Congress. Retrieved Note that this reproduces Ehrmann's original, unformatted text; many later reproductions break it into lines of blank verse. Retrieved 1 July November 27, Washington Post. Retrieved 7 September Retrieved 23 February Warner Bros.

The Globe and Mail. Terre Haute, Indiana. Combined Registry Co. May 14, Categories Pages with broken file links American poems poems singles United States copyright case law.

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