

Desiderata - kghose
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desiderata

======
Irregardless
For those who find the original poem's advice too daunting, you may have
better luck as a devotee of National Lampoon's parody, Deteriorata:
<http://plodplod.blogspot.com/2006/07/deteriorata.html>

For example:

> Speak glowingly of those greater than yourself; and heed well their advice,
> even though they be turkeys.

~~~
raleec
Also:

>Be comforted, that in the face of all irridity and disillusionment, and
despite the changing fortunes of time, there is always a big future in
computer maintenance.

------
tomelders
As far as "words to live your life by", I've never found anything better than
"If", by Rudyard Kipling: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If—>

The two are quite similar, but "If" feels like it acknowledges human failing
more openly that Desiderata. At least to me.

Sad fact: He wrote it for his dead son.

EDIT: My "sad fact" might be wrong.

~~~
arethuza
There are a number of interesting links from that page, including _Invictus_ ,
but perhaps the most interesting is the reference to this from Theodore
Roosevelt (which has a wonderful connection to Rugby _and_ Nelson Mandela):

 _It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong
man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The
credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred
by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short
again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but
who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the
great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows
in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails,
at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with
those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat._

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizenship_in_a_Republic>

I'm going to give that link to my teenage son who aspires to be a national
level Rugby player! :-)

~~~
_djo_
Yep, that was the passage that Nelson Mandela gave to Francois Pienaar before
the final, not _Invictus_. I'm not sure why Eastwood chose to use the latter
poem instead.

------
hypersoar
I like this, even though I tend not to like pithy life advice. Granted, it's
usually poorly-written compared to this (think the sort of stuff you might see
on your Facebook feed), but life is too complicated, has too many
circumstances and exceptions, for good, general, actionable advice to exist,
like, at all. So when I do enjoy single-line observations, it's because they
powerfully communicate something I already understand. Or, even better, they
bring forward something I understood all the pieces of but had yet to put
together.

I feel that the value in a poem like this is not that it teaches you how to
live life, but that it gives you a tool to keep in mind good general
principles. A sort of mnemonic device for consciousness.

~~~
Samuel_Michon
_"[Pithy life advice is] usually poorly-written compared to this (think the
sort of stuff you might see on your Facebook feed)"_

So true, and yet, the first thing I did after reading it was to post it in my
Facebook timeline.

------
cleis
This is wonderful -'Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is
a real possession in the changing fortunes of time'

------
pkorzeniewski
We'll all read it, nod head in agreement, maybe even have an afterthought and
a moment later just forget about it :)

~~~
ryanklee
This is not necessarily true. There are a number of poems whose lines play
through my head at critical moments in my life.

Although most people will "one ear out the other" with something like this,
it'll affect a few permanently.

The best (and worst) side of words will do this.

------
drpgq
Kind of sad that in some versions cheerful is changed to careful.

------
rglover
This has been a personal favorite of mine. I often write snippets of it on
post it notes around my desk..."go placidly amid the noise and haste..."

------
alexholehouse
Reminds me a lot of Baz Luhrmann's "Sunscreen" (or rather, Baz Luhrmann's
"Sunscreen" reminds me a lot of this)

~~~
xutopia
Except always wearing sunscreen is not timeless and universal. Lots of studies
suggest we shouldn't be wearing any in many parts of the world.

~~~
grimgrin
Wearing sunscreen is likely the least important part of the speech.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI>

------
harrylove
"You are what you love, not what loves you." - Adaptation, Charlie Kaufman

In context: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfGtwkq5sC0>

------
vtempest
I gave this to my parents as a birthday gift, one of my favorite writings on
life wisdom and finding inner peace. There's so much written on self help, yet
this summarizes it all well. Various stanzas keep coming up in different
situations and it keeps making me remember how to handle that situation.
There's so many -isms out there that everyone fights about but this combines
the most basic, common sense elements of them all.

------
dougk16
Funny, about half the links I've put in comments end up as submissions soon
later (<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5119372>). I'm not saying people
are using my comments as fodder, just a funny coincidence.

Guess I have to start making submissions!

------
ilikejam
"Tread gently on anyone who looks at you sideways." Words to live by...

[http://www.johns-jokes.com/Billy-Connollys-
Desiderata..........](http://www.johns-jokes.com/Billy-Connollys-
Desiderata........-excerpt-from-his-book.html)

------
chintan
Desiderata has a special meaning for people with background in Health
Informatics:
[http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~jeremy/HealthInf/RCSEd/terminology-...](http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~jeremy/HealthInf/RCSEd/terminology-
desiderata.htm)

------
jcrei
Here's a Lazyboy song that has most of Desiderata's principles
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLncHifCu1w>

~~~
equilibrium
Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings with Desiderata,
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dPDO3Tfab0>

------
tinio
My grandfather had this poem framed and hanged in his home office and has
since been cherished in the family (especially after he passed away). Also a
personal favorite.

------
hoffsam
"...listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their
story"

Wow, this is a really, really, really great way to think.

~~~
linguistbreaker
"Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't." - Bill Nye

Sometimes a simple sentence can change your whole outlook.

------
NateDad
Funny, I had a copy of this on my wall as a kid, 20+ years ago. I reread it
today, and the words are still ones worth living by.

~~~
HeyLaughingBoy
Now I don't feel so left out :-) I memorized it when I was 13 because I saw it
on the wall every day.

------
baconhigh
I fucking LOVE this.

------
tgrass
The title revision is less clear. The original title, along the lines of "How
to live life at any age" I believe was referencing a post from earlier
yesterday titled along the lines of "How to live your 20's".

The larger conversation (and intent of the post) is lost now.

~~~
kghose
That was indeed my frame of mind when I linked this.

