Desiderata Revisited
Towards the end of May 2020, as I battled the vile corona, I came across an old copy of a poem I used to adore, “Desiderata”, written in the year 1927 by a fellow called Max Ehrmann.
In case you are interested in the author and the poem, I refer you to a dependable source: Google. It will tell you everything you want to know about what you are looking for and a lot more besides that. Google is now the modern day version of “Encyclopaedia Britannica”.
As an irrelevant aside, a year or so before Bill Gates messed up the world with his company called “Microsoft”, I had bought myself a complete set of the 61 volumes of this traditional reference guide. It consists of 32 volumes of the main set, 14 volumes of a supplementary set and 15 for Junior Britannica which was meant for my kids who might not be able to handle the real thing.
At the time, I thought that I had reached the pinnacle of my high school dream: To own a library with 3,000 books by the time I was 30. How stupid! In all honesty, I still have the Britannicas although none of my kids has, to my recollection, ever opened them since they were born the last one 40 years ago. What a waste!
In case you are wondering where all this is leading to, let me make a confession. In 1978, I was a PhD student at UCLA specializing in accounting, finance and computer information systems. That is where and when I met a professor called Ben Lientz in the Anderson School of Business. You know what he told us then: “The future of the world is in computers. Not the monsters that IBM is producing but computers you can put on your desk or even in your pocket or in a phone”. Truly far-sighted.
Prof. Lientz was in a way a mentor for Bill Gates - I, in fact, remember him telling us about Gates. How right he was...
Back to Desiderata
Now that I have your attention, let us talk about the poem. The first line states:
“Go placidly amid the noise and haste
And remember what peace there may be in silence”.
This is an admonition that many of us have hardly had time for themselves. Our daily routines, so long as we are awake, is to be continually busy doing this or that, like we are being chased by a vicious wild animal. In our case, the enemy is time which we have been brought up to believe is a precious commodity which, once gone, never comes back.
Remember the old English saying: “Time and tide wait for no man”. We must, therefore, be busy all the time even when we are doing nothing of value. But, Ehrmann advises that just because other people are idiots does not mean we must follow them foolishly. Take time to reflect on where you are headed and, more so, if it is worth your time and effort. Taking time to think is always a better choice.
Another line states:
“Be on good terms with all persons
Even the dull and the ignorant
They, too, have their story.”
This piece of advice is important because we may be under the false impression that we are the only ones who know all the answers. You know how the know-it-alls in your circle have the annoying habit of trying to put you in your place so to speak? Sometimes, it could be that the fellow you have been ignoring maybe a messenger from God.
In short, give everybody a chance to express their opinion because it could be the kind of answer that you may need. Especially in times of trouble.
More Wisdom
The longish poem has many other valuable pieces of advice. Depending on your education you may like a few others. My favourite line comes towards the end:
“You are a child of the universe;
No less than the trees and the stars.”
Do not think that you, as a human being, have more right to be in this world than other creatures. Every creature or plant is entitled to their share of space in the world. Let them all, if you can, live their life.
Of course, there must be a limit to this belief. If you were to take it too literally, you would not live even for a week. You cannot, for instance, eat any plant, fish or animal just like a lion cannot eat a gazelle and, logically, even plants cannot feed on the soil and the rain. There are limits to everything..
The ending is particularly reassuring:
“Therefore, be at peace with God,
Whatever you conceive Him to be.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,
It is still a beautiful world.”
Could you in all honesty, not feel reassured that you are not alone on this trip. When Max Ehrmann wrote this poem, it was just before the collapse of the New York Stock Exchange (1928) and the start of the Great Depression in the United States which led to one of the greatest world-wide economic calamities of modern man.
But even that came to an end. Talk about maintaining a positive attitude even under some of the most trying circumstances.
I used to give this poem to the incoming students to the Faculty of Commerce at the University of Nairobi when I was Dean in the late 1980s. Whenever I meet any of them years after graduation, many tell me that it is one thing they still remember during their time at the university.
I must admit: So do I.
Bless you, Max Ehrmann for your inimitable advice to mankind.
Dedication
I have decided to dedicate the first part of this book titled “The Restless Mind”, to all those students that I met when I started teaching at the University of Nairobi. I used to call them “classmates” because, truth be told, some were older and a few smarter than I was at the time.
And, more, we had a professor when I joined the university in 1967 who used to tell us: “You cannot teach a man any- thing. You can only help him to discover what his creator put inside his head".
Many of them have gone on to reach heights which I could not even have dreamt of ever reaching.
Be thankful for little mercies.