Customer Reviews

The Desiderata of Happiness: A Collection of Philosophical Poems

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I came upon this book quite by chance and I'm so glad that I bought it. I never knew the rightful author of the Desiderata until having come across this book. So many other people have taken claim to that wonderful poem. Max Ehrmann must have been a very special person to his students while he was teaching. My favorite poem in this book (although it's hard to single out one)is called A Prayer. It talks about the hopes and dreams of your life and the beauty of simple pleasures. I had this poem read at my mother's funeral service and even the priest got choked up and he had never even read it before that day! The other poems are quite wonderful also and I don't think that anyone should pass this book by. You will find yourself reading it again and again! In his intro, he once told an interviewer that at De Pauw Univ. he contracted a disease which he had never shaken off. The disease was idealism and because of it he did the thing in life he wanted to do--write.

This is a collection of short poems written in the traditional
belles lettres style of writing. Some of the poems were purported
to be inscribed on the Old St. Paul's Church. Some quotes are as follows:

- " Be cheerful . Strive to be happy. "

- "Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others
even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story."

The volume speaks of the author's love of the whole world and
deep concern for society. It is an important acquisition for
the young and the young at heart in your home.

"Desiderata" (Latin for 'things to be desired') achieved its greatest fame as the anthem of Sixties' hippie-dom - becoming the subject of many millions of posters. It was written in 1927 by Max Ehrmann (1872-1945). In 1956, the rector of St Paul's Church in Baltimore, Maryland, used the poem in a collection of mimeographed inspirational material for his congregation. Someone who subsequently printed it asserted that it was found in Old St. Paul's Church, dated 1692. The year 1692 was the founding date of the church and has nothing to do with the poem.

This book, "Desiderata of Happiness", begins with this poem, which is part of two poetic "chapter" themes that make up this 65-page book. The first theme is titled "Go placidly amid the noise and haste", and the other is titled "For power and wealth men stretch the day".

Besides "Desiderata", the following two poems are some of my favourites in the book and give example of the book's contents:

Title: "You with the Still Soul"

"Maybe you have a still soul that
goes murmurless like water in the deep
of rivers;

And perchance you wander
silent amid the din of the world's
grinding barter like one
journeying in strange lands.

You, too, with the still soul,
have your mission, for beneath the
dashing, noisy waves must ever
run the silent waters that give the tide
its course."

The second poem is -
Title: "I Journeyed from University to University"

"I journeyed from university to
university, and I saw everywhere the
past rebuilt before the eyes of
young men and young women -
Egypt, Greece, Rome; language,
architecture, laws - saw the earth and
sky explained, and the habits
of body -
Everywhere chairs of this and that,
largely endowed.
But nowhere saw I a chair of the
human heart."

One can see from his writings that Max Ehrmann was a sensitive and intelligent man yearning for the true goodness in life that is fast fading with modern mankind's uncivilised behaviour.
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I was pleasantly surprised by the condition of the book. I received it quickly from the seller, and I very much appreciated that it came in bubble wrap. It was a huge hit at the graduation party.