DESIDERATA
Max Ehrmann
THEMES
POSITIVITY
Positivity is the main theme of the poem. Positivity means being optimistic in life. One should be
positive in every aspect of life – in chaos, in speech, in relationships, in career, in love, in sudden
misfortune, in loneliness, and in overall outlook towards oneself and the whole world.
The poet says even with its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it can be a beautiful world if your
mind perceives it to be so. What is important is to focus on the positive aspects and keep striving
towards happiness.
To maintain a positive outlook throughout life is an important message of the poem. One should not
distress oneself with ‘dark imaginings’ but should become strong enough to deal with any
misfortune.
BELIEF IN ONESELF
One must have belief in oneself. Believing that everything happens for a reason, and ‘universe is
unfolding as it should’ gives us an optimistic outlook towards life and keeps one away from stress.
Also what is important is to feel peace within one’s soul even if one has to work hard for one’s
aspirations ‘in the noisy confusion of life.’
Positivity is within oneself, and what matters is how a person shapes his life. By comparing oneself
with others one can turn bitter but by just enjoying one’s own achievements, one can be happy and
satisfied. Thus to live life with positivity, we should not compare ourselves with others, should not
feign love or affection, should be humble, should not give way to dark and dismal thoughts and
should always strive to be happy.
DIDACTIC POEM
‘Desiderata’ is a didactic poem as it intends to teach a moral lesson on life. ‘Desiderata’ means
desired things. It outlines several positive ways to look at life. The poet teaches some basic things
desired to be done by man so that he can lead a happy and fruitful life. The poet suggests to the
readers not only what to do but also how to do it.
The world is full of chaos, hardships, trickery, misfortunes, loneliness, drudgery and shattered
dreams. It is in such a situation that ‘Desiderata’ motivates one to remain positive and offers
suggestions to lead a peaceful and happy life.
Accept noise and others: The poet urges us to be calm in the midst of noise and haste. There is
peace in silence. In order to be calm with ourselves we need to be on good terms with all types of
persons. One way to get along with others is to give voice to our opinions without hesitation but at
the same time listen to others’ opinion as they have something to tell from their experience. We
need not surrender our self- respect and principles in doing so. We should be receptive to one and
all. We should listen to even the dull and the ignorant. They, too, have their own points of views.
Furthermore, we need to avoid those who are loud-mouthed and aggressive people because such
people disturb our peace of mind.
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Avoid comparison with others: We should not compare ourselves with others because there are
always people who are ahead of us but at the same time there will be some behind us. By comparing
ourselves with others, we become either too proud of our achievements or too bitter at our failures.
Whatever we achieve, we should enjoy it and continue with our plans.
Focus on career and the world is not devoid of good people: We should focus on our work,
however humble it may be. With hard work and conviction we can reach the top position in our
career. But the poet cautions us to be aware of tricksters, who can cheat us. At the same time, the
poet says that trickery of some people should not blind us to the goodness in the world or be
suspicious of everyone. There are virtuous people. There are many people who try to achieve high
ideals in life. Life is full of heroic people and we can get inspiration from them.
Focus on self and to avoid hypocrisy: We should be what we are rather than make a pretence of
what we do not have. The poet asks us not to pretend to be loving towards someone if we are not.
But at the same time, we should not be cynical towards love. in the face of hardships and
hopelessness, love is as perennial as the grass.
Love yourself: We should grow old and accept old age. We must learn from our past experiences
and give up things of our youth in old age without any fuss. We should strengthen our inner
resources of spiritual strength so that we can face any sudden misfortune. However, we should not
worry over future possible actions. We should not let our fears overpower us for most of our fears
are the result of fatigue and loneliness. We should be disciplined but we should not torture
ourselves with extreme self-control. It is better to be gentle with ourselves.
Accept our position: Everything in the universe has its own place. We are as much a part of the
universe as the trees and the stars. Whether we understand it or not, everything in the universe is
happening as it should. So we should be at peace with God and ourselves.
World a beautiful place and be cheerful: The poet’s final advice is that though the world is full of
noise and chaos, with all its fakeness, drudgery and shattered dreams, it is still beautiful. What we
need is to look at the brighter side of the things and be cheerful and happy.
Thus ‘Desiderata’ by Max Ehrmann offers a set of simple values, which when practised, could make
human life much happier, peaceful and worthwhile.
