Desiderata

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1976 edition of The Desiderata of Happiness poetry collection

This article is about the poem. For other meanings, see Desiderata (disambiguation).

Desiderata (Latin for "desired things", plural of desideratum) is an inspirational prose poem about attaining happiness in life. It was written in 1927 by Max Ehrmann.

In the 1960s it was widely circulated without attribution to Ehrmann, sometimes with the claim that it was found in a church and was written in 1692. Nevertheless, the estate of Ehrmann has kept various editions of the work in print. A spoken-word recording of the essay was made by Les Crane and reached #8 on the Billboard magazine charts in late 1971.

1 Excerpts
2 Mistaken attribution
3 Copyright status
4 Additional recordings
5 See also
6 References

[edit] Excerpts

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

...

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

[edit] Mistaken attribution

Around 1965, copies of the poem were circulated to various publications with the attribution "Found in Old Saint Paul's Church, Baltimore; Dated 1692". The essay was widely reprinted on the assumption that it was in the public domain. Even Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact was taken in. The misconception continues to this day.

One common explanation for the misunderstanding is that the poem was circulated on the church's letterhead, which listed the church as being founded in 1692 but gave no attribution for the poem.

[edit] Copyright status

Ehrmann obtained a federal copyright for Desiderata in 1927 (No. 962402). The copyright was bequeathed to his widow, Bertha, who left the copyright to her nephew at her death in 1962. In 1971 the nephew sold it for an undisclosed fee to Crescendo Publishing Co. The copyright is currently owned by Robert Bell. Ehrmann, however, did not attach a copyright notice to a few freely distributed copies of the poem, and in Bell v. Combined Registry Co., the court found the work to be effectively in the public domain. The U.S. Copyright Office noted the court decision in its annual reports for 1976 and 1977, noting that "forfeiture had occurred by authorized publication of copies without the correct notice on them".^[1]^[2]

Nonetheless, in other cases in other jurisdictions, Bell has been successful in protecting Ehrmann's copyright.^[3]

Some published versions of the essay end with the phrase "Be careful" rather than "Be cheerful". Lacking a definitive published source, the reader may decide which is in keeping with the rest of the poem.^[3]

[edit] Additional recordings

Desiderata was also recorded as "Spock Thoughts" on the album Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy in 1968 by Leonard Nimoy (in character as Mr. Spock), with musical accompaniment by Charles R. Grean. In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), early in the movie, Spock is speaking to Valeris about the changing political climate, and he paraphrases the line about the universe: "that the universe will unfold as it should".

Spoken-word recordings similar to the Les Crane version exist for translated versions of the essay, often using the same background music and even the English-language refrain. A popular Spanish-language version by Mexican actor Jorge Lavat was issued as a vinyl single and later on an album of poetry recitations called Jorge Lavat y la canción hablada ("Jorge Lavat and the Spoken Song"); it is included in several compilations in the CD era, including Amor '96.

Les Crane's recorded version was parodied as "Deteriorata" by National Lampoon in 1972. Modern readers may know the parody better than the original.