This poem begins "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowances for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or, being hated, don't give way to hating, and yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster And treat those two imposters just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, And stoop, and build 'em up with worn out tools; If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, and lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them:"Hold On"; If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch; If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run- Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And which is more - you'll be a Man, my son! That poem always inspired my sister and I when we were young (In the days when women still knew how translate the politically incorrect literature to their own benefit and inspiration)

-- Ann Fisher (zyax55b@prodigy.com), January 04, 1999

Answers

Someone pointed this out today in an e-mail. I remember when it was popular. -- Diane

Desiderata

GO PLACIDLY AMID THE NOISE & HASTE & REMEMBER WHAT PEACE THERE MAY BE IN SILENCE.

AS FAR AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT surrender be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly & clearly; and listen to others, even the dull & ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud & aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others you may become vain & bitter; for always there will be greater & lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity & disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue & loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees & the stars, you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors & aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery & broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be careful. Strive to be happy.

-- UNKNOWN

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), January 04, 1999.

Thanks! Both are well worth remembering!!

Diane, I particularly remember and liked Roscoe's version of that, on a record called "Roscoe Speaks"

cr

-- Chuck, night driver (rienzoo@en.com), January 04, 1999.

Speed reading again Squire? Let me slow it down for you.

"Avoid loud & aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit."

Did you start following Crazy INVAR around like a puppy dog before or after you didn't read that.

-- Jimmy Bagga Doughnuts (jim1bets@excite.com), January 04, 1999.

Well Jimmy,

Since it will make your day for me to respond to you, I've read Desiderata many times over the years, just not recently, and I find you extremely "loud & aggressive," not to mention a "vexation" to many of the hardened and gentle spirits posting here.

Welcome JBD, newbie. Do you have anything of value to contribute to this forum or are you always planning on "ripping up and tearing down?"

Just checking.

"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees & the stars, you have a right to be here."

Sure wish you'd learn your spirit's lessons and work on creating, rather than attempting to destroy, a Y2K and beyond digital community on the Yourdon forum.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), January 04, 1999.

You have to understand this Jimmy fella. He has nothing useful to contribute, and it seems to terrify him that others here have. So he works very hard to drive his goblins away by saying it ain't so, it can't be so, these people are all fools, Y2K is a crock entirely.

A much more effective solution is available to him, viz., simply not to look at any postings on this forum. This may not have occurred to him.

"Out of sight, out of mind" works for most people. I bet iIt'll work for Jimmy.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), January 04, 1999.

"Welcome JBD, newbie"

Glad you brought that up Squire. Newbie, troll, dgi, wgi, dwgi, pollyanna. Why do you losers need to classify and immediately form a hierachy to make yourselves feel superior? If you believed all that new age stuff (which btw I'm kinda into even though I'd like to garrot Yanni) it seems to me you would be labeling your buckets of beans and not people.

To the guy who said I haven't contributed anything. Here's what I think I've contributed. Not in order of importance

YourDoneIV got involved in at least 4 of my posts.

At least 5 times I have posted rational arguements why it will be a 2.

Where appropriate I say people should prepare for whatever services they think they will miss.

I'm the most interesting and entertaining poster on this forum. Don't tell me I have a big head, I got that one by default. If Patti has more material I may be forced to work harder.

I got AH andy's head to explode simultaneously on 2 different threads.

I exposed Hallyx and INVAR as maniacs.

I'm the first person who didn't patronize Squire.

People who visit this place for the first time are usually new to Y2K. They are usually thinking doom and the regulars here do not give a balanced view. I try to counter that.

there must be something else I'm leaving out

Have a Nice Day

-- Jimmy Bagga Doughnuts (jim1bets@excite.com), January 04, 1999.

Yeah you forgot this.

The 25 Rules of Disinformation

Rule number 8:

Invoke authority. Claim for yourself or associate yourself with authority and present your argument with enough "jargon" and "minutiae" to illustrate you are "one who knows", and simply say it isn't so without discussing issues or demonstrating concretely why or citing sources.

MoVe Immediate

-- MVI (vtoc@aol.com), January 04, 1999.

I pride myself on working clean and will continue to do so but just this once I have to ask.

WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

sorry

-- Jimmy Bagga Doughnuts (jim1bets@excite.com), January 04, 1999.

The Poem is totally lost on James for he will NEVER be a real man.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), January 04, 1999.

Jimmy, please re-read:

Twenty-Five Rules of Disinformation - The Politicians Credo

http:// www.trufax.org/research2/disinforules.html

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), January 04, 1999.

ref "I pride myself on working clean and will continue to do so but just this once I have to ask. WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

sorry"

The 25 Rules of Disinformation

Rule number 9:

Play Dumb. No matter what evidence or logical argument is offered, avoid discussing issues with denial they have any credibility, make any sense, provide any proof, contain or make a point, have logic, or support a conclusion. Mix well for maximum effect.

MoVe Immediate

-- MVI (vtoc@aol.com), January 04, 1999.

On another note. The following is from another e-mail link. -- Diane

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning for $86,400. It carries over no balance from day today. Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course!!!

Each of us has such bank. Its name is time. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose.

It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow." You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today.

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), January 04, 1999.