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Desiderata (Latin for "desired things", plural of desideratum) is an inspirational prose poem about attaining happiness in life. It was first copyrighted 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 St. Paul's Church, Baltimore, Maryland, and was written in 1692 (the year of the founding of St. Paul's). 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.

At least one court case has held the poem to be forfeited to the public domain because of distribution during and before World War II, but other cases have ruled that the assignee through Ehrmann's heirs holds the purchased copyright.

Contents 1 Excerpts 2 Copyright status 3 Additional recordings 4 See also 5 References 6 External Links

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.

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]

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. Other parodies include "Disintegrata" (subtitled "The Klingon Creed"), which was circulated among fans of the television series Star Trek.

A U.K. television advertisement for Nationwide Building Society featured excerpts from 'Desiderata', read by a female voice. It appeared around 1990.

The UK musical project Lazyboy (now Lazy B) release a version to music entitled 'Desiderata' that was included on the 2004 album 'Lazyboy TV'.

The Human Abstract recorded a song entitled "Desiderata" on their 2006 album Nocturne.

• Serenity prayer
• Wear Sunscreen
• Deteriorata

1. ^ Annual Report of the Register of Copyrights, 1976. United States Copyright Office (1976). Retrieved on October 9, 2006.
2. ^ Annual Report of the Register of Copyrights, 1977. United States Copyright Office (1977). Retrieved on October 9, 2006.
3. ^ ^{a b} Desiderata (information and history). Fleurdelis.com. Retrieved on July 6, 2006.

• Desiderata in Life - Interpreted as a manifesting guide.
• Text of poem