Desiderata
Beautiful Inspirational
Words To Live By
Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and the 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 ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or 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 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.
Reverence for Life affords me my fundamental principle
of morality, namely, that good consists in maintaining,
assisting, and enhancing life and that to destroy, harm,
or to hinder life is evil. Affirmation of the world...
that is affirmation of the will to live, which appears
in phenomenal forms all around me... is only possible
for me in that I give myself out for other life.
- Albert Schweitzer
In three words I can sum up
everything I've learned about life:
it goes on.
- Robert Frost