Authors

Max Ehrmann

Max Ehrmann (1872–1945) was an American writer and poet from Terre Haute, Indiana, best known for his prose poem Desiderata. His work emphasizes calm, moral guidance and the value of peace and silence, reflected in the line about going placidly amid the noise and haste.

Quotes: 3

Quotes by Max Ehrmann

Turn hesitation into rehearsal; practice frees the voice of action. — Max Ehrmann

Rehearsal Transforms Hesitation into the Voice of Action

Max Ehrmann’s dictum reframes hesitation not as failure but as a starting line. Instead of treating the pause before action as a void, he recasts it as a rehearsal space where skill, confidence, and intention are built.

Created on: 11/1/2025

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. — Max Ehrmann

Carrying Peace Through a World of Haste

Max Ehrmann’s Desiderata (1927) opens with a gentle imperative: move through turbulence without letting it move through you. To “go placidly” is not withdrawal but a disciplined way of walking amid “noise and haste,” rem...

Created on: 8/23/2025

You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. — Max Ehrmann

Claiming Our Place in a Vast Universe

Max Ehrmann’s line, from Desiderata (1927), asserts a radical equilibrium: your existence weighs no less than a cedar’s presence or a star’s light. By placing person and cosmos on the same continuum, he dissolves hierarc...

Created on: 8/10/2025