my 26 best friends

Here's great news for Christians everywhere! You never have to read that long, long, long boring black book filled with all those lies and fairy tales and all that begettin' and begotten' again!. You no longer have to look for inspiration in the stories about this crazy rabii who thinks he's God and his 12 male friends who traipse around the desert with him in dresses and they never meet a woman (except a prostitute and the God guy's mom). You don't have to read unbelievable things like 15-year-old virgins giving birth, or dead men coming to life, or somebody turning water into wine. Now, instead of reading 350 pages of hype and tripe and being more confused than before you started...NOW you can get all the genuine inspiration you'll ever want...all the truth, all the rules you'll need to live a happy, meaningful life. And it's all in one beautiful, memorable prose poem - Desiderata - with 46 short lines to be read slowly - ever so slowly - written by Max Ehrmann in 1933 and heralded around the world as the most beautiful tone prose ever written.

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 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 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.
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 with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.