Max Ehrmann

I suppose it was an early '70's thing, but Max Ehrmann's Desiderata graced my bedroom wall from the time I was in Middle School until I went off to college.

Ehrmann was a lawyer-turned-writer from Terre Haute, Indiana. Nothing he wrote ever caught fire during his lifetime but, after his death, this particular set of admonitions took on a life of its own.

Desiderata is simple, folksy, American wisdom literature with universal appeal. Solid and unpretentious, like its author. Indeed, that is its greatest drawback: for who wants to believe that the secret to living a good and decent life could have been penned in the 20th century by a relatively obscure son of German immigrants to the United States? Where is the drama in that? And where is the tragedy?

If there is tragedy to be associated with these lines, it is not in their production but in their reception. It is tragic that such sound advice could be deemed trite. Plain-spoken common sense, in short supply these days, was, at one time, a peculiarly American virtue. When Americans became too "smart" or "worldly" for such trifles, we abandoned the only genius we had to offer history.