Wednesday, September 14, 2011



A few people have posted DESIDERTA on Facebook today and I couldn't resist posting this Video on my blog. I will probably get some shit for it, but lighten up and eat a bagel with loads of cream cheese. I first heard this on the National Lampoon 'Radio Dinner' album when Desiderata was making the rounds of my local High School back in 1971.


the original

desiderata -
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

Sunday, September 11, 2011

the door


A man went to the door
of the Beloved and knocked.
A voice replied, 'Who is there?'
The man answered, 'It is I.'
The voice said,
'There is no room for 'I' and 'Thou.''
The door remained closed.
After a year of solitude
and deprivation he returned
and knocked again.
A voice from within asked,
'Who is there?'
The man said, 'It is Thou.'
The door was finally open.

 Jelaluddin Rumi