A Poem For A Way of Being in The World
Desiderata - by 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 to the dull and the 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 to 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 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 c.1920
A Poem for Leaving this World
On Death
Kahlil Gibran
You would
know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in
the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day
cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of
death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are
one, even as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your
hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds
dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for
in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the
trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be
laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling,
that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his
trembling?
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and
to melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the
breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God
unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall
you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall
begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you
truly dance.
Kahlil Gibran
You would
know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in
the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day
cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of
death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are
one, even as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your
hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds
dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for
in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the
trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be
laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling,
that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his
trembling?
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and
to melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the
breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God
unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall
you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall
begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you
truly dance.